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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25484233">Rays of Spring Sunshine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklyfaerie/pseuds/sparklyfaerie'>sparklyfaerie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Divergent, Childhood Friends AU, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:15:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>33,525</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25484233</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparklyfaerie/pseuds/sparklyfaerie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakura had been by his side since he lost his family, following him around since they were seven years old, trying to ease his loneliness in whatever way she could. He didn’t even know why he allowed it. He just silently allowed her to claim the seat next to him at the beginning of every term.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>225</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The hospital room was bright and cheerful, with pictures of animals painted on the walls and drawings by previous patients on display in frames. Outside, on the other side of the closed door, the sounds of a hospital in full swing could be faintly heard, muffled by the small wooden barrier.</p>
<p>The single occupant of the room was sat up in bed, staring down at his hands in complete silence, dark eyes vacant. He was vaguely aware of the door opening and closing, but didn't look up, even as a woman settled in the chair on his left hand side.</p>
<p>"Good morning, Sasuke-kun. My name is Mebuki." She said gently, as if talking to a startled rabbit. "How are you feeling today?" She eyed the uneaten meal on the table next to the bed, still slightly steaming, and pursed her lips. "Would you like me to have the nurses bring you a new breakfast? Something else? I'm sure I could convince the kitchen to make you some onigiri."</p>
<p>He shook his head in the negative.</p>
<p>"Alright, well, why don't you eat your breakfast, and we'll chat?" She rolled the table over and presented the food to him.</p>
<p>"Not hungry." He murmured listlessly.</p>
<p>"Eat anyway." The doctor prodded gently. "You'll get sick if you don't."</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>The woman sighed gently. He still had not so much as looked up from his hands. She gently placed a hand on his leg through the blanket, and he finally looked up, blinking at her. "I know you're sad, Sasuke-kun." She said gently. "The Hokage told me what happened to your family. I'm sorry." She ignored the tears that welled in his eyes; he turned to dash them away furiously. "Do you want to talk about it?"</p>
<p>"No!" He glared at her, rubbing his eyes. It was the first real emotion he'd displayed since he'd woken up the previous day.</p>
<p>"Okay." She withdrew her hand. "Then why don't you eat your breakfast, and then I'll leave you alone?" She offered. Sullenly, he reached forward and picked up a pair of chopsticks. Picking at his food, he chewed resentfully and forced himself to swallow. "You have lots of visitors wanting to see you, you know." She told him gently. "Lots of your friends from the Academy have been asking after you. Would you like us to start letting people in?"</p>
<p>Sasuke shrugged, lifting his bowl of miso and sipping at it.</p>
<p>"Alright, we'll start letting your friends come to see you." She made a note on a clipboard. "They usually drop by after classes, so you'll start seeing them this afternoon."</p>
<p>They sat in silence, the only sounds coming from Sasuke as he slowly made his way through his breakfast. When, at long last, he set down his chopsticks, the doctor smiled at him and stood. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" She asked, voice infected with false cheer as she stacked the used dishes and pushed the table to the side. "Now, make sure you get out of bed and move around a little." She told him. "Sitting there all the time is no good for you. Just tell the nurses at the desk outside if you want to go for a walk in the gardens. And you can use the shower at the end of the hall." She patted the small pile of clothing sitting on the dresser. "Just leave your clothes in the bathroom in the basket with your bed number, and they'll be washed and returned to you. Your clean clothes are here."</p>
<p>He nodded listlessly, likely more to get her to go away than anything else. "Alright. I'll come see you again tomorrow, Sasuke-kun." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I know it's hard. But you're going to be okay."</p><hr/>
<p>They all came in the afternoon. Fourteen children his own age all crowded into his small room, peppering him with questions. He managed to tune them out, not even acknowledging his classmates until one of the girls all but <em>jumped</em> on his bed to hug him.</p>
<p>The reaction was instantaneous. He wasn't even conscious of moving. One moment, the blonde girl's arms had wrapped around his neck, and the next, she was flat on the floor, blinking up at the ceiling dazedly. He stared at his clenched fist as she rose, rubbing her jaw with a watery glare in his direction. "That wasn't very nice! I was only trying to give you a hug!"</p>
<p>"Don't touch me." He snarled in her direction. Everyone took a step back, shocked at the sudden hostility. "Get out." He growled at them all. "Get out! Get out, get out, <em>get out</em>!"</p>
<p>The commotion had summoned a nurse, who quietly shuffled all the upset children away. He could vaguely hear Ino, the one who he had punched, ask "What's wrong with him?" before the door closed behind them.</p>
<p>He didn't care that he had hurt the girl. She was going to be a kunoichi, wasn't she? She'd deal with worse, eventually. The world of shinobi was dark, and dangerous, and only the strongest survived.</p>
<p>He clenched his fists.</p>
<p>He was going to get strong. He was never going to let someone like his brother hurt people again. He'd… he'd kill his brother for what he did, and then… and then…</p>
<p>He supposed he'd have to start again. His father once told the story of how a single man founded the Uchiha clan many generations ago. He would do the same. He would rebuild them… somehow.</p><hr/>
<p>The doctor came again in the morning. He kept his thoughts to himself, but he had a direction now. He was less listless, ate with more gusto, rebuffed her attempts at conversation with hostility. She took it all in stride, assuring him that the anger he felt was natural. It was good that he was grieving, she said. It was healthy.</p>
<p>He didn't think he was grieving. Grief was sad. He'd grieved when his uncle died on a mission last year. No, this… this was white-hot fury. The kind that made him tremble with suppressed rage when he allowed himself to think about it for too long. The kind that made him throw things at the nurses when they came to check on him, and to punch the children in the gardens who dared to ask him why he was in the hospital if he wasn't sick.</p>
<p>His classmates didn't come that afternoon. He didn't care. He supposed he had scared them off yesterday. Good.</p>
<p>It was five o'clock when there was a gentle knock at his door. He didn't bother answering; the door slowly crept open, and a small face peered at him from the crack. He recognized her. She had been there yesterday; one of the girls from his class at the Academy, all pink hair and green eyes and huge forehead. Haruno Sakura.</p>
<p>"Um," she fidgeted with the hem of her dress, standing in the doorway. "Ino-chan says she's sorry for yesterday." She said in a small voice.</p>
<p>"Why didn't she come and tell me herself?" He sneered, voice dripping with hostility.</p>
<p>She blinked at him, still not moving from the doorway. "She's scared." She admitted honestly.</p>
<p>He snorted. "So are you." He observed.</p>
<p>She hesitated, before shaking her head. "No, I'm not." She said slowly. "Kaa-chan told me that people can get angry when they're sad." She peered up at him with big green eyes as she slowly crept forward and closed the door behind her. "I think you're very sad."</p>
<p>If he'd had anything within reach, he'd have thrown it at her. As it was, the nurses had taken away anything that wasn't too heavy for him to lift. "I'm not sad." He growled.</p>
<p>She peered at him, disbelieving. "Maybe it's deep down?" She suggested.</p>
<p>"Why are you here?" He demanded. They weren't even friends at school. She was too shy to talk to anyone but Ino, most of the time. In fact, he thought, she was regularly bullied by the older kids.</p>
<p>"Kaa-chan works here. I'm waiting for her." She pulled up the too-big chair next to his bed and climbed into it. "She said I could wait here instead of her office."</p>
<p>"I don't want you here." He spat, looking away from her.</p>
<p>"I won't be long." She sounded upset. "Kaa-chan will come get me at six o'clock." She rummaged through her little backpack before presenting him with folded up pieces of paper. "Sensei asked me to give this to you." She put it on his bed. "It's make-up work for all the stuff you've missed so far." She said brightly. "I can help you, if you like."</p>
<p>Despite himself, he picked up the homework. He'd need to do it to become a better shinobi, he reasoned. But that didn't mean he wanted her help. "<em>Go away</em>." He snarled.</p>
<p>Her face fell. "Okay." She sniffled. "I'll bring you more homework tomorrow, then." She clambered down off the chair and pushed it back to the corner she'd gotten it from without looking at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun." She said as she slipped out the door, closing it softly behind her.</p><hr/>
<p>His days passed in the hospital at a snails' pace. Doctor Mebuki would come in the mornings, and Sakura would come in the afternoons to give him his homework. He sometimes went out into the gardens, but preferred to stay indoors. He ate when he was told to and bathed when instructed, and sat silently through probing questions about how he was feeling. He sometimes got visits from people who knew his parents, but it wasn't until he was a week in the bright little room that anyone of consequence came to see him.</p>
<p>He looked up, mildly surprised as the Sandaime entered his room, telling his ANBU shadows to wait outside. Sarutobi Hiryuzen was an old man who had returned to the position of Hokage after the death of the Yondaime. As he settled into the chair at his bedside, Sasuke wondered why he'd come.</p>
<p>"Good afternoon, Sasuke." His voice was reedier than Sasuke remembered, from hearing him give announcements outside the Hokage's office. "I came to ask you about what happened at the Uchiha compound last week. Can you tell me what you saw?"</p>
<p>Sasuke clenched his fists. "My Nii-san killed everyone." He snarled.</p>
<p>The Hokage nodded. "Did he tell you <em>why</em>?" He probed.</p>
<p>"Does it matter?" He demanded.</p>
<p>The Sandaime sighed. "It does." He said. "Many of the other clans are afraid. The Uchiha were strong. Anyone that can… well, the village is anxious that your brother be found and made to answer for his crimes. Is there nothing else you can tell me?"</p>
<p>"No." It didn't matter. None of it mattered. He hid his face, ashamed of the tears welling up and spilling over his cheeks. <em>Uchiha do not cry</em>, his father had once said. Would his father be ashamed of him now? Or would he have allowed this one slip of the rules?</p>
<p>The Hokage sighed. "Very well." Sasuke looked up at the weariness of his voice, and the Saindaime's expression softened at the tear tracks lining his face. "I'll make sure one of the doctors brings you to the memorial service. It's in three days."</p>
<p>The boy, looking so much younger than seven, finally broke down sobbing. The Hokage patted him awkwardly on the shoulder, and watched as the boy buried his face in his knees, a sound like a dying animal escaping him as the man opened the door and stepped out. Sasuke distantly heard a little voice nervously stutter "G-good afternoon, Hokage-sama," from the hall. Sakura had come to deliver his homework.</p>
<p>"Ah," the Hokage's voice was steadier. "You must be one of Sasuke's friends. He's very upset right now; please take care of him."</p>
<p>"Yes, Hokage-sama."</p>
<p>The door closed softly a moment later, and small footsteps approached him slowly. He heard a little shuffling to his left, before feeling the bed dip; he looked up to see concerned green eyes peering at him. Slowly, giving him enough time to move away should he feel she was encroaching too far into his personal space, she shuffled next to him on the bed and gently dabbed at his cheeks with a little pink handkerchief.</p>
<p>He opened his mouth to tell her to go away. He didn't want her pity. He was sad and he was angry and he wanted to <em>break</em> <em>something</em> and he wanted to cry and be left alone. But the words wouldn't come. Instead, he allowed her to put an arm around his shoulders and rub his arm gently, the way the girls held each other on the playground when one of them was upset. It was the first time someone had touched him so gently in almost two weeks, and without thinking, he clutched at her, sobbing into her shoulder as her other arm came around him.</p>
<p>The embrace was light, easy enough to pull away from should he wish. But he only clutched at her tighter, awkward position be damned, as he cried his heart out on the girl's shoulder.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the years passed, Sasuke became withdrawn and sullen. It was to be expected, the adults said. He'd been through a lot. Being one of the last of a prominent clan put <em>pressure</em> on people, and with the reputation they'd gained before the <em>incident</em>… well. It was no wonder.</p><p>Sasuke spent most of his time alone. He lived on his own. He cooked his own meals and did his own laundry. There was a lady that came every afternoon to check on him for the first month, but he usually ignored her until she went away. He never had guests. Most of his classmates, when he'd returned to the Academy, had been put off by his abrupt change in demeanour. He'd retreated inward, snapping at the least provocation and becoming fiercely independent.</p><p>He had only one person that he would consider calling a friend, and even then he didn't know why he allowed it. Sakura wasn't a particularly interesting girl. She wasn't good at taijutsu or ninjutsu, and made a lousy training partner, no matter how hard she tried to keep up with him. He supposed she was smart, but so was he. He just silently allowed her to claim the seat next to him at the beginning of every term, and if another girl tried, he would simply get up and change seats when Sakura entered the room.</p><p>It was probably, he thought, that her mother was the doctor that had looked after him in the hospital. He hadn't realised it until the day the Hokage had visited him, when Doctor Mebuki had come looking for her daughter when she didn't find her in the break room after her shift. To say that patient and doctor had been surprised wouldn't have been <em>quite</em> accurate. Sasuke was annoyed that he'd been caught crying all over some girl, and had shoved Sakura away violently. She had crashed to the floor and landed on her chin, and Mebuki had dived for her, hands flickering with weak green chakra as she sought to soothe the bruises that had yet to show on her fair skin.</p><p>"I'm okay, Kaa-chan." Sakura had, bravely, pushed herself to her feet, sniffling back tears of pain. Sasuke remembered, vaguely, being impressed. Mebuki had shot him an inscrutable look, but had simply bid him a good night and taken Sakura out of the room. He'd never apologised, but he'd allowed Sakura to stay and work on her homework with him for the rest of his stay in the hospital. He didn't talk to her, but she kept up enough chatter for two, telling him who got into a fight with whom on the playground, or a silly joke that Iruka-sensei had made. She didn't stray too close to why he was in the hospital, and her inane chatter distracted him.</p><p>The Haruno family had, on his release from the hospital, begun inviting him over for dinner every Friday night. He thought they did it out of pity. At first, he had refused when Sakura waited for him by the Academy doors with her mother's invitation on her tongue. But Sakura was nothing if not persistent, and she eventually ended up following him home and sitting outside his apartment door until he finally relented—"just this one time. I just don't want you hanging around outside my house."</p><p>He mostly tuned out Sakura's chatter on their way from the Academy to her house. At twelve, she was all playground gossip and celebrity news, and "<em>Oh, oh! Sasuke-kun, did you hear…</em>" He supposed she was useful for keeping the other girls away from him, at least. Only a few of them ever bothered him when Sakura was around.</p><p>"…won't pass." She was saying glumly one afternoon, almost sulky.</p><p>He turned his head slightly in her direction, slightly frowning in confusion.</p><p>She noticed. "Honestly, Sasuke-kun," she sighed, "I don't know why I talk to you. You <em>never</em> listen."</p><p>"I don't know why either." He shrugged.</p><p>"I <em>said</em>," she said slowly and deliberately, making sure he was paying attention. "I'm worried that the exams will test something I'm not good at, and I won't pass."</p><p>"Hn." He scoffed. "You'll pass."</p><p>"You don't know that." Sakura shook her head. "I'm not <em>good</em> at things like you are." She complained. "My parents are <em>genin</em>. They never trained me right." The unspoken words '<em>like your parents did</em>' hung between them. Even now, Sakura was sensitive enough to know that mentioning his family was a touchy topic. It hung heavily between them whenever conversation strayed a little too close to home.</p><p>"Your mother is a doctor." He grit his teeth, ignoring her implication.</p><p>"A civilian doctor!" Sakura protested. "She flunked out of the med corps."</p><p>"Quit your whining. You're annoying." He declared in a flat voice, ending the conversation.</p><p>He could sense Sakura sulking as they reached her home. She unlocked the door without a word, toed off her sandals, and disappeared up the stairs for a few moments. He could hear her shuffling around upstairs as he made his way into the dining room and took a seat on one of the cushions arranged around the low table. His homework was already out on the tabletop when Sakura reappeared, dumping her homework on the table, and marched past him into the kitchen.</p><p>She emerged a few minutes later, with a tray containing a teapot and several onigiri that her mother had prepared beforehand. She carefully placed it on the table and took her seat across from him, pouring the tea into small cups and pushing one toward him. When she was done, she divided the onigiri based on filling; she preferred sweeter fillings, whereas Sasuke detested them, and her mother knew that, making sure to properly indicate which had which filling.</p><p>Sakura settled across from him, sipping at her tea and making a face at him over her cup. He ignored her. It was a comfortable routine that they had developed early in their friendship, all the way back during his stay in the hospital; they sat in silence for the most part, with Sakura making the occasional comment about the homework, and Sasuke felt some of the tension in his shoulders ease. Classes at the Academy were a trial to get through, full of noisy children and incessant badgering by his many admirers. Here, in the quiet of the Haruno household, he was able to relax. He sipped at his tea and picked at a rice ball, but most of his attention was on the worksheets in front of him.</p><p>"Done." Sakura threw down her pencil an indeterminate amount of time later, stretching and looking toward the clock on the wall. "Kaa-chan should be home soon."</p><p>He nodded, eyes on his final problem. He finished as she cleared away their tea things, muttering something about wrapping up the rest of his onigiri for him to take home later, and was leaning back on his hands when she re-entered the room. She considered him from her position standing in the doorway, head tilted slightly to the side. He knew what was coming before she opened her mouth.</p><p>"Wanna spar?" She asked.</p><p>He nodded, climbing to his feet and putting on his sandals before following her out the front door. The Haruno family had no true yard, but there was a small patch of trees down the street that they had used for this purpose before. Sakura was never a very challenging opponent, but she did <em>try</em>. He knew he was a genius when it came to taijutsu and ninjutsu, but Sakura was decidedly average for their age. Still, challenge or not, it was exercise after a long day of nothing but theory in preparation for their graduation exams, and Sasuke was feeling antsy.</p><p>He met her first strike with a block, moving to sweep her feet out from under her. She jumped backward, back against a tree, and spun to the other side, out of his line of sight. His eyes scanned the foliage above, and he moved into a defensive position. She appeared from his left, lunging at him, and he caught her fist in his hand. Twisting her arm, he put her into a hold that she had to use force to break, elbowing between his ribs and making him hiss under his breath as he released her.</p><p>They traded blows for a while, the afternoon sun becoming rosy around them. It felt good to be moving again. They both knew he was going easy on her, but neither said anything. Sakura was well aware that, if he wanted to, he could have her flat on her back in moments. It bothered her, if the thunderous look on her face was anything to go by, but it wasn't acknowledged between them.</p><p>They mutually decided that their exercise was over when they heard her mother calling them inside to help with supper. Wordlessly, they trudged back inside and headed to wash up; she disappeared up the stairs to make use of the bathroom, and he slipped into the small water closet downstairs to make use of the faucet, using a wet paper towel to wipe off the worst of the sweat and dirt from his skin. He dusted his clothes off as best he could, knowing that Mebuki hated them coming in covered in dirt and leaves, and stepped out to help in the kitchen.</p><p>"Good afternoon, Sasuke-kun." The doctor greeted him cheerfully. In the four years he'd known her, she'd only ever been friendly to him. He wasn't particularly fond of her or her husband, but he tolerated their kindness—or rather, their <em>pity</em>, his mind supplied mutinously. "It's good to see you again."</p><p>"Thank you for having me." He replied automatically, his mother's insistence on good manners still instilled in him even after the nearly five long years of her absence.</p><p>She smiled indulgently. "I suppose Sakura is still washing up." She hummed to herself. "Why don't you get started on the vegetables for me? The ones in the bag over there."</p><p>Wordlessly, he moved to retrieve the vegetables from the plastic bag and used the knife that she'd left out to peel and chop them. He'd never questioned the fact that she made him help with the preparation of food; his mother would never have done such a thing with company, but he'd made a conscious effort not to think about that too long. Besides, he prepared all his own food at home anyway, and had done for years. He was a more competent cook than Sakura, at least, who tended to burn anything she tried to make.</p><p>Sakura joined them ten minutes later, fresh-faced and having changed her clothes. She kissed her mother on the cheek and set to helping Sasuke with the vegetables, chattering with her mother about her day at the Academy. Sasuke tuned them out, focusing on not slicing his fingers open with the sharp knife.</p><p>Kizashi, Sakura's father, returned home at about the time they competed their task, and Mebuki shooed them out of the kitchen with a pot of tea and told them to relax until dinner was ready. They seated themselves at the table once again, Sasuke moving their schoolbags to the side of the room, and Sakura pouring the tea for themselves and her father. The man joined them after changing out of his uniform, beaming at his daughter as she presented him with a cup.</p><p>The two of them made light chatter as the smell of dinner cooking wafted through the house, and Sasuke realised that he was hungry. He'd only eaten one of the four onigiri that Sakura had presented him with earlier. The other three would probably be his breakfast, or, more likely, his lunch the next day. Mebuki would also load him up with leftovers, like she did every time he came to dinner, so he would not have to cook tomorrow night either.</p><p>"And you, Sasuke?" Kizashi's merry voice broke through the veil of calm that Sasuke had wrapped himself in, and he forced himself to pay attention to the man. Not for the first time, he thought to himself about how unsuitable pink hair was for a shinobi. No wonder the man had never made it past genin. He wondered if Sakura would, with an even more garish handicap than her father. "How has the week been treating you?"</p><p>"I'm well." It was the same exchange they had every week. If Kizashi tired of it, he'd never let it show.</p><p>"Good, good." He took a long drain of his tea, his attention not wavering from the boy seated across from him. "Sakura tells me the graduation exams are next week. Nervous?"</p><p>"No." He answered bluntly. He wasn't nervous. He knew, without a doubt, that he would pass. There wasn't much in the academy that he had struggled with, and he knew all the basic jutsu that they'd learned inside out and backwards.</p><p>"Ah, I forget that I'm talking a genius shinobi." The tone was indulgent, but held no condescension. Still, Sasuke bristled. "Well, if you happen to be put on the same squad as Sakura, I hope you'll keep looking out for her."</p><p>"O<em>tou</em>-san!" Sakura's face coloured. "Sasuke-kun's never <em>looked out</em> for me before! I can take care of myself!"</p><p>Sasuke fought the urge to cringe at the shrillness of her voice. She got like that when her parents embarrassed her in front of him, he'd noticed, or when Yamanaka got it into her head that she and Sakura were somehow <em>competing</em> for his attention. The notion was ridiculous. He tolerated Sakura's presence when she was bearable, and told her outright when she was being a nuisance. He did <em>not</em> tolerate Yamanaka. At all.</p><p>Thinking about it, he supposed he <em>would</em> prefer if Sakura was on his squad. At least she wouldn't bother him. Or, perhaps, the Hyūga girl. She never bothered him, he supposed.</p><p>"Hn." Was all he said aloud.</p><p>"Dinner's ready!" Mebuki called from the kitchen. "Sakura, come help me!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p></p><div class="xcontrast">
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      <p>Neither Sasuke nor Sakura were impressed that they'd been saddled with the lowest ranking student in the class on their team. Sakura, while not really gifted in any of the shinobi arts, was at least intelligent—but Naruto was just as stupid as he was untalented.</p>
      <p>"Ugh, <em>why</em> did it have to be Naruto?" Sakura whined at him as they left the classroom for lunch. Sasuke had planned to eat alone, but it seemed that Sakura was intent on following him, now that they were on the same team. If he ditched her now, she'd annoy him about it later. "Anyone else would have been fine. But <em>Naruto</em>…! '<em>Balanced teams</em>', Sensei said." She scoffed. "This is your fault."</p>
      <p>Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. "How is it <em>my</em> fault?" He demanded.</p>
      <p>Sakura shrugged, playing with the ends of her hair. "You're a genius, right?" She reminded him. "So Naruto must have been put on our team to make up for your skill level."</p>
      <p>"Hn." Sasuke scoffed. "He's stupid enough to make up for both of us." He agreed.</p>
      <p>Sakura seemed not to have noticed the indirect compliment. "And I know <em>I'm</em> not anything special, so it's not <em>my</em> fault." She continued miserably, watching her shoes as they walked.</p>
      <p>Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You—"</p>
      <p>"Sakura-<em>chan</em>!"</p>
      <p>They both looked over their shoulder to see Naruto headed in their direction, attention focused entirely on Sakura. Sasuke stepped aside as the boy reached them, addressing the girl alone.</p>
      <p>"Hey!" The blonde grinned at Sakura. "Why don't we eat lunch together?"</p>
      <p>Sakura made a face. She disliked Naruto almost as much as Sasuke did. "Why would I want to do that?" She demanded, rudely.</p>
      <p>Naruto looked a little disheartened, but didn't give up. "I thought we could… since we're on the same team, and all, you know?"</p>
      <p>"No thanks." She turned to Sasuke. "Let's go, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke gave Naruto a look of distaste before moving to follow her.</p>
      <p>"I mean, Sasuke can come too I guess." Naruto hurried to keep up with them. "You guys are friends, right?"</p>
      <p>"Will you <em>quit annoying us</em>?" Sakura demanded, turning on her heel and glaring at the blonde. "Just because we're on the same team now doesn't mean we want to be friends with <em>you</em>!"</p>
      <p>They left him behind at that. Sakura's ranting continued as soon as they were out of earshot. "<em>Honestly</em>, can't he tell when people don't want to hang out with him?" She demanded. "It's like no one ever taught him manners. I guess that's what happens when you have no pa—" she stopped herself dead in the middle of her sentence, but Sasuke knew exactly what she was going to say.</p>
      <p>
        <em>When you have no parents.</em>
      </p>
      <p>They stopped walking, and Sakura was suddenly anxious. "Sasuke-kun… I'm sorry, I—"</p>
      <p>"You have no idea what it's like." He avoided looking at her. His voice was dangerously soft. "The loneliness that comes from—it's like nothing you've ever experienced. You always complain about your parents making you do chores, or your homework, but you…" he couldn't finish. It was something that really irked him about her; always had been. Her parents were good to her. Probably better than his father had been to him. They loved her and sheltered her and she took them for granted.</p>
      <p>"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it! I—!" She grabbed his sleeve.</p>
      <p>He jerked away from her touch, finally looking at her with a glare so dark it froze the words in her mouth. "You are so <em>fucking</em> annoying." He snarled. She jerked away as if burned, blinking tears away. He refused to feel guilt that he'd made her cry. Without looking back, he leapt into the trees. He ignored her calling after him as he sped away. He couldn't be around her now. He needed to hit something.</p>
      <p>"Sasuke-kun!" She called after him, though she didn't pursue him into the foliage. "Sasuke-kun, <em>wait</em>!"</p>
      <hr/>
      <p>He was still angry when the lunch block ended, and they trekked back inside to be introduced to their jōnin instructors. Sakura seemed to sense the dark aura around him; she sat as far away as possible on their three-person bench, as close as she could get to Naruto without touching him. The blonde seemed confused by this at first, but Sasuke caught him looking between the two of them; Sakura was peeking at him through her hair out of the corner of her eye, face miserable. It was obvious that they'd had a fight.</p>
      <p>The other teams were handed off to their jōnin senseis with minimal fuss. When the last one had left the room, Sakura raised her hand. "Um, Iruka-sensei…? Where is our sensei?"</p>
      <p>Iruka sighed. "He's probably running a little late." He said apologetically. "I have to go report to the Hokage. You three can wait here. He'll probably be along soon."</p>
      <p>He left. The three of them spread out around the classroom. Awkwardness abounded. Sasuke radiated hostility; Sakura was anxious enough that she needed to pace. Naruto was simply impatient.</p>
      <p>Within five minutes of being left alone in the classroom to wait for their jōnin sensei, Naruto was complaining, loudly, that he was late.</p>
      <p>As five minutes became ten, and then thirty, and then two hours, Sasuke was getting ready to kill the stupid blonde. Sakura's voice was getting grating too, as she alternated between scolding Naruto and joining in on his complaining. Sasuke folded his hands and rested his chin on them with his eyes closed, willing their sensei to hurry up and appear already, before he set fire to them both.</p>
      <p>"Hey, what are you doing?" Sakura demanded.</p>
      <p>Sasuke looked up from where he was contemplating a scuff on the classroom floor, scowling as Naruto dragged a stool over and jammed a blackboard eraser into the top of the door. "Idiot." He sneered. "Do you really think he's going to fall for a stupid kid's trick like that? He's a <em>jōnin</em>."</p>
      <p>"I'm just teaching him a lesson for making us wait!" Naruto declared, pointing dramatically at Sasuke. "I'll make him respect me, dattebayo!"</p>
      <p>"You're just asking for trouble, Naruto…" Sakura planted her hands on her hips.</p>
      <p>Sasuke's eye twitched. Was the kid serious? Sasuke had known Naruto their entire academy life, and the guy couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. There was nothing worth <em>respecting</em> about him, and he'd just opened his mouth to say so when he heard someone come to the door.</p>
      <p>As the door opened, the three genin watched, almost in slow motion, as the eraser fell through the air and smacked against the jōnin's head. A cloud of dust erupted and settled on the man's silver hair as he eyed them, unimpressed. The eraser fell to the floor with a clatter.</p>
      <p>Naruto laughed uproariously, rudely pointing at their sensei. His other hand slapped against his side as he tried to breathe.</p>
      <p>Sakura stared, dumbfounded, looking torn between fear of repercussion and laughter herself.</p>
      <p>Sasuke just stared at his new sensei, almost twitching in his disbelief. <em>This was a jōnin</em>?</p>
      <p>The man stared Naruto down as his laughter died, single visible eye narrowed. He was clearly not amused.</p>
      <p>"S-sorry, Sensei… we tried to stop him…" Sakura tried, inching toward Sasuke.</p>
      <p>The man eyed her, then Sasuke. He stepped into the room and drew himself up to his full height. "As far as first impressions go," he said in a lazy drawl, "I hate all of you."</p>
      <p>"Yeah, well, you were <em>late</em>!" Naruto argued.</p>
      <p>The man shrugged. "Well, follow me." He turned on his heel and disappeared back into the corridor.</p>
      <p>Naruto and Sakura scrambled to catch up, the latter looking back over her shoulder to check that Sasuke was following. He fell into step behind her as they followed their sensei through the Academy, wondering where he was taking them. After a few minutes of silence, they emerged onto the rooftop, blinking in the mid-afternoon sunlight.</p>
      <p>"Well, take a seat." The man waved to the stairs that led to the garden beds. The three of them perched as instructed, and he leaned against the railing, watching them. "I suppose we should all start by introducing ourselves." He drawled.</p>
      <p>"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura blinked at him. "What should we say?"</p>
      <p>He shrugged. "Your name, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies… that sort of thing."</p>
      <p>"Can you go first?" Naruto piped up. "We don't even know your name."</p>
      <p>"Me?" His single visible eyebrow went up. "My name's Hatake Kakashi. I don't feel like telling you what I do and don't like. I've never really thought about my dreams. And, well… I have many hobbies."</p>
      <p>"He only told us his name." Sakura complained at Naruto, who nodded, dissatisfied.</p>
      <p>"Now, you guys." Kakashi gestured to Naruto. "You first."</p>
      <p>"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" He brightened in an instant, fiddling with his hitai-ate. "I like instant ramen, but I like the ramen Iruka-sensei buys me from Ichiraku's even better! I hate the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the hot water into the cup. My hobby is eating and comparing ramen! And my dream," he announced dramatically, "is to surpass the Hokage, and get everyone in the village to acknowledge my existence!"</p>
      <p>Kakashi eyed him impassively before turning to Sakura. "Next."</p>
      <p>"I'm Haruno Sakura!" She chirped. "I like… um…" she cast her eyes around, landing on Sasuke before sliding away. He pretended not to notice, even as he felt his cheeks warm ever so slightly. She made things <em>weird</em> when she did that. "Spending time with my friends. My hobbies are… reading, I guess? And my dream is…" her eyes landed on Sasuke again, "for everyone I care about to be happy."</p>
      <p>"And your dislikes?" Kakashi gave no indication as to what he thought.</p>
      <p>"Naruto." She answered with certainty, causing the boy in question to deflate with disappointment.</p>
      <p>"And you?" Kakashi asked Sasuke.</p>
      <p>He didn't raise his face from where his chin rested on his folded hands, elbows propped up on his knees. "Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things, and I like nothing in particular." He could practically feel Sakura's disappointment radiating off of her. "And I don't consider my ambition a dream, because I <em>will</em> make it come true. I will restore my clan… and kill a particular man."</p>
      <p>Despite the warm, sunny day, the atmosphere seemed to drop a couple of degrees. Naruto was edging away from him, unease written all over his face. Sakura openly stared; he had never revealed these plans to anyone, not even to her. Not that anyone had ever asked; he'd never really gone out of his way to invite others to ask questions about his future.</p>
      <p>Kakashi eyed him. Sasuke could feel his heavy scrutiny. Then, all of a sudden, he changed tracks. "Good! You're all very distinctive and interesting. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."</p>
      <p>"Yeah?" Naruto perked up. "What kind of mission?"</p>
      <p>"We'll do what we can with only four people;" Kakashi shrugged. "A survival exercise."</p>
      <p>"A survival exercise?" Naruto repeated, confused.</p>
      <p>"I thought it was meant to be a mission?" Sakura complained. "We've done plenty of exercises in the Academy!"</p>
      <p>"This is no <em>simple</em> exercise." Kakashi dismissed her complaint.</p>
      <p>"Then what kind of exercise is it?" Naruto asked.</p>
      <p>Kakashi laughed. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.</p>
      <p>"What's so funny, Sensei?" Sakura demanded.</p>
      <p>"If I tell you, you'll only be disappointed." Kakashi chuckled. Then, he stopped. With a completely flat voice, he told them, "Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be recognized as genin. The remaining eighteen will be sent back to the Academy. So, this test is extremely difficult, with a sixty-six percent fail rate." They stared at him in disbelief, and he laughed at them again. "See? I told you you'd be disappointed!"</p>
      <p>"That's not fair!" Naruto burst out. "We've already passed the graduation exams!"</p>
      <p>"Those?" Kakashi shrugged. "They're only meant to select the ones with the <em>potential</em> to become genin. I'll be deciding whether you pass or fail. Bring your complete set of shinobi tools. We meet at training ground three at five tomorrow morning." He let them stew for a few moments, before he said, "Okay! You're dismissed. Oh… and you should probably skip breakfast. You'll throw up."</p>
      <p>He disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving them on the rooftop.</p>
      <p>Sasuke would not fail. While Sakura and Naruto fretted about what kind of test it would be—"He said 'survival test', right? Maybe he's gonna knock us out and leave us in the woods to find our way back?" "Don't be stupid, Naruto, he wouldn't be allowed to do that."—he clenched his hands. This was just one more hurdle. One more test to see if he was any closer to being strong enough to kill Itachi. He <em>would</em> pass. Failure was not an option.</p>
      <p>He became aware of the other two staring at him in concern. "What?" He snapped. He was still pissed at Sakura for her comment earlier.</p>
      <p>Sakura smiled nervously. "Do… you want to walk home together?" She asked, a little hopeful.</p>
      <p>"No." It was a stupid question. She lived in the middle of town; he lived to the east, near where the old Uchiha district was. They would both be going completely out of their way to walk the other home. And besides, he wanted to get some training in. Whatever Kakashi would have them do, he would be as prepared as possible.</p>
      <p>"Oh, okay." Her face fell.</p>
      <p>"I'll walk with you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto chirped, bright eyed and eager.</p>
      <p>Sakura sniffed. "No thanks."</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a joke.</p><p>Their so called 'survival exercise' had been nothing but a mind game on Kakashi's part, and Sasuke wanted to barbecue the mask right off of his face.</p><p>"In the world of shinobi," Kakashi had said, "those who break the rules are trash. But, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."</p><p>That was just Kakashi's personal opinion. The first thing they'd learned in the Academy, of course, was that the mission took priority. Shinobi didn't have the luxury of putting their friends before their mission; that was just the way it was. Yes, it was beneficial to work in groups, but human beings were, at their core, selfish creatures, and they wouldn't go out of their way to help a teammate if it didn't directly benefit <em>them</em>.</p><p>Case in point—Sakura had completely forgotten to untie Naruto when they left the training ground.</p><p>Sasuke just hadn't done it because he hadn't cared.</p><p>Flush with their success, Sakura chattered away at him as she followed him through the market. He hadn't invited her along, but they were both still hungry after <em>completely unnecessarily</em> skipping their breakfast and then having their lunch interrupted by Kakashi, and all the decent restaurants were in the same part of town.</p><p>They were passing by the ramen stand, Sakura considering their choices aloud, when she finally remembered their idiot teammate.</p><p>"Oh, no!" She cried, slapping a hand over her mouth. "We completely forgot to untie Naruto!"</p><p>"<em>You</em> forgot." He pointed out.</p><p>"We have to go back—!"</p><p>"If he's got anything close to half a brain," Sasuke cut her off, "he'll figure it out." They had, after all, been taught how to escape ropes in the academy.</p><p>Sakura looked worried. "Still, it wasn't exactly very nice, just leaving him there…"</p><p>"Why do you suddenly care?" He raised his eyebrows. "You were all about ditching him yesterday."</p><p>"There's a big difference between not wanting to hang out with someone and leaving them tied to a post!" She argued.</p><p>He shrugged, hands in his pockets. "Whatever." He turned on his heel and strode forward into one of the smaller cafes nearby. He wasn't surprised when she didn't follow him; her conscience often got the better of her.</p><hr/><p>Naruto was irritating.</p><p>Sakura let a long breath out of her nose as the blonde boy dragged her into Ichiraku's ramen bar, excitedly chattering away at her. She cursed herself for not making her excuses as soon as she'd cut the ropes holding him to the pole, but he'd looked at her with such a sunny smile that she would have felt like kicking a puppy if she'd said no to his request to hang out.</p><p>Besides, after her fight with Sasuke yesterday, she'd done a lot of thinking. Maybe she <em>could</em> stand to be a little nicer to Naruto. They were teammates now, and in it for the long haul. Life was going to get very difficult, very quick, if she didn't learn to at least get along with him.</p><p>And, after Sasuke had sneered the word <em>annoying</em> at her, she'd realised she'd done to Naruto what Sasuke did to her all the time. She pretended it didn't hurt when he called her annoying, and most of the time it didn't, but when he was particularly venomous about it, it was like her stomach vanished and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. It wasn't a pleasant sensation. She didn't like the idea of causing that feeling in anyone else. Even Naruto.</p><p>Of course, if he didn't shut up, she was probably going to punch him.</p><p>And he ate like a <em>pig</em>, too, she noticed when they settled on stools and placed their orders. Sakura had eaten at Ichiraku's once or twice with her family, and knew the food was good. But the way he inhaled it like it was his last meal made her stomach turn a little. Halfway through her bowl—as much as she would let herself eat on her new diet—she gave him the rest and he looked at her like she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.</p><p>"I have to go." She told him, slightly uncomfortable. "My parents are going to want to hear how the mission went." She lied. Neither of her parents would be home; her mother had an afternoon shift at the hospital and her father had left on a three-day mission to one of the neighbouring villages that morning.</p><p>"Oh, okay." He grinned, not perturbed in the least. "See you tomorrow for training, Sakura-chan!"</p><p>"Yeah, bye." She all but fled the restaurant, shaking her head at him.</p><p>She had no idea how she was going to survive this. Their sensei didn't take them seriously at all, and Sasuke was far more skilled than she was. The only real thing she had going for her was that she was smarter than Naruto, but that wasn't likely to help her in a fight. Even the idiot had an ace-in-the-hole that could help him out of difficult situations.</p><p>At some point, she needed to have a long chat with Kakashi-sensei and see if he could help her improve. She liked to think that training with Sasuke all those years had helped at least a little, and she was far from the worst kunoichi in her class. There had to be <em>something</em> that she could do to prevent her from falling too far behind the boys.</p><p>She meandered home at her own pace, looking forward to a long bath and changing into her pyjamas. It was only mid-afternoon, but she was tired after having been up at dawn. Her mother would wake her for dinner, she was sure.</p><hr/><p>Naruto trudged to his empty apartment, feeling optimistic. He was finally a shinobi! He had a real team! <em>And</em>, he preened to himself, Sakura-chan had actually spent some time with him!</p><p>All in all, it had been a good day. Sure, Kakashi-sensei didn't take him seriously. Sure, he'd gotten caught cheating. And sure, the others had walked away and left him tied to the post. But, it was still a better day that he was used to having. And now that he was a real shinobi, his team would recognise him and he'd earn their respect! It was already working on Sakura-chan, if her behaviour was anything to go by.</p><p>Still, he glowered at the thought of Sasuke. He and Sakura-chan were already close friends. He wondered if he could ever fit in there. He didn't understand what was so great about him anyway—he was a surly-looking boy who never so much as cracked a smile. Sakura-chan, Naruto nodded to himself, deserved better friends than that. She was pretty, and bright, and kind. Sasuke, the bastard that he was, was often mean to her for no reason. Naruto didn't get why she forgave him all the time.</p><p>She wasn't like the other girls at the Academy. Sure, she didn't like Naruto, just like everyone else, but she also didn't just hang all over Sasuke like a parasite. She was nice to most people, except maybe Naruto and Ino. And she was so smart, she usually got first or second place on their written exams—same as Sasuke.</p><p>Naruto might have had the lowest scores in the class, but he wasn't <em>dumb</em>. He knew both his teammates were smarter than him. And with them already having that bond of being long-time friends, Naruto's job of fitting in was going to be hard.</p><p>And Kakashi-sensei wasn't so bad. He might have been lazy and dismissive, but at least he didn't look at Naruto with eyes filled with hate. Not like Mizuki-sensei had the other night in the forest. Not the way all the other grownups other than Iruka-sensei and old man Hokage did. He didn't take any of them seriously, though.</p><p>But!</p><p>Naruto was determined to make the best of things. This was just his first step to becoming Hokage someday.</p><hr/><p>Their first mission was a babysitting job.</p><p>Kakashi practically ignored the two brats they were supposed to be watching in favour of his little orange book, and Sasuke seethed.</p><p>Sakura had taken charge of the baby, at least, sitting on the rug in the living room of the family home, tickling the little girl's feet and smiling as the baby giggled at her. Naruto was chasing the three year old around, shouting that he was going to wallop the boy if he didn't sit down and shut up.</p><p>"Moron." Sasuke grumbled as Naruto tripped on the edge of the rug and fell down next to the baby. His flailing hands barely missed slapping her in the face. Sakura screeched and snatched the infant up, cradling her to her chest protectively as she glared daggers at Naruto.</p><p>"Watch what you're doing, you idiot!" She hissed, bouncing the shrieking infant in an attempt to calm her down. "Sensei," she said plaintively to Kakashi, "Naruto almost hurt Mei-chan!"</p><p>"Be more careful, Naruto." Kakashi said absently, turning a page.</p><p>"Yeah, well, that little shit won't listen to me!" Naruto cried, jabbing his finger at the kid who was laughing uproariously.</p><p>Sasuke sighed in annoyance, scooping the kid up and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, ignoring the squawk of protest and tiny feet kicking him in the chest. "Who would?" He bit caustically. "You've never got anything important to say."</p><p>Naruto spluttered after him as Sasuke dragged the kid out into the back garden and set him down, letting him loose in the yard. The kid—what was his name? Sasuke hadn't really cared to listen—took off toward a swing set, and Sasuke sat on the steps.</p><p>This was stupid. This was <em>not</em> what he'd signed up for when he graduated from the Academy. This was a <em>waste of fucking time</em>.</p><p>"All genin start with the most basic missions." Kakashi had lectured them that morning, when Naruto had made a fuss about the type of mission they were assigned. "It builds discipline. You've got to learn to work as a team and <em>follow orders</em>."</p><p>Sasuke understood that. Taking orders was a part of the shinobi lifestyle. He didn't particularly <em>like</em> it, but it was a necessary evil in the career they'd chosen for themselves.</p><p>But, really? How the fuck did watching someone else's brats build discipline? The only thing it was building in Sasuke was a mounting impatience.</p><p>Some of the other missions the Hokage had listed off had at least sounded like they would provide physical activity. Pruning a tree would have required them to climb it. Fixing a bridge would have required them to heft supplies and hammer things into place. Hell, even running errands around the village would have let them run about and practice their agility. But Naruto had bitched and complained about every single option, until the only one left was the babysitting job.</p><p>He was fairly certain Kakashi had accepted it to punish them. Why he and Sakura were being punished for Naruto's idiocy, he had no idea.</p><p>"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura poked her head out the back door. "It's time for Kenta-kun's nap. Can you bring him inside please?"</p><p>Sasuke sighed, glaring down at the child, who had heard the word '<em>nap</em>' and started throwing a tantrum. This '<em>mission</em>' couldn't end fast enough.</p><hr/><p>Kakashi sighed.</p><p>The three brats that he called his students hadn't stopped bickering all the way to the Hokage tower. Though he affected an air of nonchalance as he reported the mission complete to the Hokage, he felt his covered eye twitching with impatience at their antics. Twice, the boys had picked fights with each other today. And the girl was no better; she picked on Naruto for his immaturity in a high, nasally voice that put his teeth on edge.</p><p>Not for the first time that day, he wished he'd just failed them on the bell test.</p><p>"Naruto, don't mouth off to the Hokage!" Sakura brought her fist down on the blonde's head, scowling. Sasuke stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, deliberately ignoring his teammates as they acted up. Kakashi could feel the irritation coming off him in waves, though.</p><p>"Such a spirited bunch." The Sandaime chuckled at their antics, causing Sakura's face to burn as she shrunk in on herself in embarrassment. "They bring to mind another old genin squad, don't they, Kakashi?"</p><p>Kakashi let out a breath through his nose. "I'm not sure what you mean, Hokage-sama." He lied smoothly. He knew. Of course he knew. But he wasn't Minato-sensei and didn't have the patience to deal with this.</p><p>The Hokage let him have his lie. "Very well. You're dismissed for today. There will be another mission for you in two days' time."</p><p>Kakashi marched his students out of the building, fighting the urge to slap his hand over Naruto's loud mouth.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their first mission outside the village began with a bang.</p><p>Not a literal one of course, but close enough.</p><p>Sasuke was the first to react as Kakashi was torn apart. The two enemy nin wasted no time in moving on to Naruto as their next target; Sasuke leapt into the air, knocking the chain that they'd used to tear Kakashi apart into a nearby tree with a shuriken and pinning it there with a kunai. Then, grabbing the odd, barrel like weapons on their gauntlets, he kicked out on both sides, hard enough to send the kiri-nin reeling and break the chain that linked them. They recovered quickly; one sped for Naruto. The other ran at Tazuna, their client.</p><p>"Stay behind me, Tazuna-san!"</p><p>Sasuke barely had time to decide which teammate to help; in fact, he didn't even make a conscious choice. On instinct, his feet carried him toward the blob of pink that had placed herself between the client and their attacker. He glared at the approaching kiri-nin in defiance. He was coiled tightly like a spring, ready to leap into action within a split second.</p><p>Until Kakashi appeared and incapacitated both enemy nin in the blink of an eye.</p><p><em>Show off</em>, Sasuke grumbled internally, sneaking a look over to the mangled remains of a log that Kakashi must have used for <em>kawarimi</em>. He felt Sakura exhale in relief behind him and felt a stab of irritation.</p><p>"Sorry for not helping out right away, Naruto. I got you hurt." Kakashi was saying to the blonde. "I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move."</p><p>Sasuke eyed Naruto critically. The boy was picking himself up off the ground, face a blank mask of shock. It must have been his first taste of real, life-or-death violence, Sasuke realised. He knew it was Sakura's, too. But she, at least, had followed their academy training and moved to defend the client. She probably would have been killed if the kiri-nin had reached her—a thought that Sasuke shied away from, because it <em>hadn't happened</em> and there was no need to dwell—but she had at least moved. Naruto had, for all his bluster, just stalled.</p><p><em>Tch</em>, Sasuke thought, <em>he's not cut out to be a shinobi</em>.</p><p>"Anyway," Kakashi approached them, "good work, Sasuke. You too, Sakura."</p><p>Sakura was plainly relieved that the whole situation as over with. Her shoulders sagged at Kakashi's acknowledgement and she fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot and wringing her hands the way she did when Sasuke knew she was trying to hide how pleased she was. The smile on her face was wide as she looked up at their sensei, eyes alight with admiration.</p><p>Sasuke turned to Naruto, annoyed. The boy was staring at him. "Yo."</p><p>Naruto gave a start; Sasuke smirked.</p><p>"Are you hurt… scaredy-cat?"</p><p>The anger and frustration that crossed Naruto's face was worth it. The blonde snarled and started toward him. "Sasuke—!"</p><p>"Naruto!"</p><p>They all froze at Kakashi's sharpness. Sasuke half-listened to Kakashi's explanation of poison in favour of eyeing up Tazuna. The guy was fidgety, looking at the trees warily. His suspicions were proven valid when Kakashi half-turned to the old man and said, "I need to talk to you." in a soft voice.</p><hr/><p>Sasuke just rolled his eyes at Naruto as he made his little speech. He was already annoyed at Sakura's quickness to suggest abandoning the mission and turn tail to run back to the village, but Naruto's melodramatics were really unnecessary.</p><p>"Naruto," Kakashi drawled, "it's great that you took out the poisoned blood, but you're gonna bleed to death if you lose any more." Naruto froze. Kakashi's eye crinkled as he squatted down in front of him. "It's not gonna be good if you don't stop the bleeding. Seriously."</p><p>Naruto freaked out. Sakura approached with hands on her hips. "Naruto, you're <em>such</em> a masochist." She scolded, digging in her pack for the first aid kit. "Whoever heard of someone stabbing their own hand? Seriously?!"</p><p>"<em>Moron</em>." Sasuke muttered. Kakashi was fucking with him. It'd take several hours at the rate he was bleeding to die of blood loss.</p><p>"And you shouldn't tease him like that, sensei." Sakura said to Kakashi as he began to wrap up the wound. "Naruto's stupid enough to believe you when you say those things."</p><p>"W-were you making fun of me, sensei?" Naruto stammered. "Am I really gonna be okay?"</p><p>"Hm?" Kakashi looked up from the bandage. "Oh, you'll be fine. Just keep this bandaged up for a few days." He finished up and straightened. "Let me just send a message to Konoha about these two," he eyed the kiri-nin, "and we can decide what to do from there."</p><p>Kakashi showed them his summoning jutsu, a small pug-like ninken appearing in a puff of smoke. "Everyone, this is Pakkun." He introduced the dog.</p><p>"You three must be Kakashi's new pups." The small dog sniffed at their shoes. Sasuke caught the way Sakura's eyes shined as she kneeled down to properly introduce herself to the ninken. They'd learned about them in the Academy; the Inuzuka clan were famous for their use of ninken partners, like Kiba and Akamaru. And there were other animals that could be summoned, he knew. Sasuke had vague memories of his father and… <em>that person</em>… summoning crows to send messages back and forth. He pushed the thought away.</p><p>"I'm Sakura." Sakura greeted the dog, voice high and bright. "This is Sasuke-kun," she pointed to him, "and this is—"</p><p>"Naruto." Pakkun interrupted her, sniffing at the hand she offered him. "I've seen him before."</p><p>"You have?" Naruto demanded. "When?!"</p><p>"Never mind that now." Kakashi interrupted. "Pakkun, I need you to take a message to the village for me." He held out the scroll he'd written just before summoning the dog. "We're only about three hours away by foot; it shouldn't take you too long." Pakkun grumbled, but took the scroll. When he was out of sight, Kakashi turned to the two tied up nin. "Alright, you two. Lights out."</p><p>He hit a few pressure points on the struggling enemies, dropping them into unconsciousness within seconds. Sakura sucked in a breath, impressed. Sasuke just looked bored. "So what are we doing now?" He demanded. "The shinobi rules state that if the client lies about the parameters of the mission that we're not obligated to continue with it."</p><p>"That's true." Kakashi nodded, making Tazuna freeze up. "But we're less than two days from the border. It'll be a while before anyone figures out that the planned assassination was a failure; we can at least get him home for now. Besides," his eye crinkled in what must have been a smile, "this mission just went from C- to B-rank. The pay's better."</p><p>Naruto cheered at the idea of more money.</p><p>Sakura chewed her lip. "But, sensei, the mission was to protect him until he finishes his bridge. What if they send stronger shinobi next time?"</p><p>Kakashi ruffled her hair, causing her to squeak and bat his hand away, trying to fix the damage. "Don't worry, Sakura. I won't let my cute little students get hurt."</p><p>Sakura's cheeks puffed out in annoyance. Sasuke glared.</p><hr/><p>The rest of the day was spent hiking in tense silence. Even Sakura was too nervous to speak, too busy eyeing the trees for potential threats to bother anyone. Naruto grumbled to himself a little, but Sasuke ignored him. Kakashi kept his position at the front; Sasuke walked at the back.</p><p>No one spoke.</p><hr/><p>They crossed into Wave country at midmorning. They crossed the river by boat under the cover of fog, and quickly made their way through the small settlement and into the surrounding woods. By now, Tazuna had spilled the beans about the truth of the threat. Sasuke was on edge. Sakura was tense but alert. Naruto had recovered his usual exuberance and was making an idiot out of himself as normal.</p><p>"There!" The blonde idiot flung a kunai into the bushes. Nothing happened. "Huh. Guess it was just a mouse."</p><p>Sasuke had been expecting something of the sort for <em>hours</em> now. Naruto's stupidity was legendary among their former classmates. He wondered what, exactly, he'd done in a previous life to get stuck with the dead-last loser.</p><p>"Naruto!" Sakura's voice was shrill. "Stop showing off! There's nothing there!" Sasuke ignored Tazuna's sputtering, fighting the urge to punch his teammate.</p><p>He saw Kakashi tense just as Naruto threw another kunai into a different bush. "There!"</p><p>Sakura had had enough, it seemed. She marched over to Naruto and punched him in the face. Sasuke felt a grim satisfaction, even if he hadn't been the one to deal the blow. "There's nothing there, you idiot!"</p><p>"I swear I saw something!"</p><p>What happened next was very quick: One second, Sakura was yelling at Naruto for scaring a rabbit—the next, Kakashi shoved Tazuna to the ground and shouted "Get down!"</p><p>Sasuke dropped. He heard Naruto and Sakura grunt as she tackled him to the ground. Something whirred over their heads, fluttering the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck. When he looked up, there was a large sword embedded in a nearby tree—the thing that had flown over them. Even more striking, though, was the man who stood on it, balanced on the hilt.</p><p>Kakashi straightened as the three genin and Tazuna climbed to their feet. "Well, well. If it isn't the nukenin Momichi Zabuza, formerly of Kirigakure." He said conversationally. Sasuke didn't miss the way his body tensed for a fight, even as he addressed the other man cordially.</p><p>But Naruto, the supreme, dead-last <em>moron</em> that he was, did.</p><p>Kakashi held out a hand to stop Naruto's foolhardy charge. "All of you, stay back." He said, tone quiet and serious. It was nothing like the casual tones they were used to hearing from him. "This guy's way above your level."</p><hr/><p>Sakura knees knocked together throughout the whole exchange. In all honesty, she was too afraid to take anything in; Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate to reveal a red eye that sent a jolt of recognition through her. He offered Sasuke a vague promise of protection and the next thing she knew, she was being flung to the ground and Kakashi was trapped. Then Naruto was running at the enemy nin like an idiot and getting himself hurt.</p><p>She stuck close to Tazuna while the boys worked together to free Kakashi-sensei, and then the mist descended again and she couldn't see anything. Sasuke was nearby and Naruto was in the water, and Sensei and Zabuza were fighted with clones and misdirection until a hunter-nin from Kirigakure took Zabuza out.</p><p>She didn't relax even as Naruto was throwing his hissy fit.</p><p>"In this world," Kakashi said to him, "there are people who are younger than you and stronger than me. That's just the way it is."</p><p>And then he promptly collapsed.</p><hr/><p>Sasuke's mind was churning with questions by the time they reached Tazuna's home. Between he and Naruto, they'd dragged the unconscious Kakashi the rest of the way, and laid him out on the futon Tazuna's daughter dragged out for him. He could hear Sakura quietly fretting behind him when they stepped out of the room to let him rest before settling around the table in the kitchen.</p><p>"What's wrong with him?" She asked in a small voice.</p><p>Sasuke closed his eyes and, despite his best efforts, remembered a conversation his mother had had with him once when he was five; <em>that person</em> had just returned from training, and Sasuke's mother had prevented him from bothering him after he went upstairs to sleep.</p><p>"<em>He used a lot of chakra today, practicing with the sharingan. Let him rest for now, okay Sasuke-chan?"</em></p><p>He sighed. "It's most likely chakra exhaustion." He said to the tabletop.</p><p>"Oh." Sakura accepted that answer.</p><p>"What's that mean?" Naruto demanded, looking between them. Sasuke didn't bother answering.</p><p>Sakura, though, did. "It means he used too much chakra and his body is recovering. He'll probably be out of it for a while."</p><p>"How long?"</p><p>"We don't know, Naruto." Sakura sighed. "It's different for everyone."</p><p>Sasuke ignored them. <em>He</em> wanted to know how Kakashi of all people could have acquired the sharingan. He wasn't a member of the Uchiha clan; Sasuke would know.</p><p>"Did you see that red eye of his though?" Naruto's grating voice broke through Sasuke's thoughts. "That thing looks wicked cool!"</p><p>Sasuke twitched. He was just about to open his mouth to tell Naruto to shut the fuck up about his family's kekkei-genkai when Sakura said softly, "I've seen someone else with eyes like that before."</p><p>That single, solitary sentence arrested his attention like nothing Sakura had ever said. His head snapped up to stare at her; for once, he couldn't school the surprise that washed over his features. It only seemed to grow when he realised she was looking at him. "Who?" He demanded roughly. Sakura had been far too young to have much to do with his clan members when they were killed. Had she seen a police officer making an arrest or something? It was the only explanation that he could feasibly come up with. However, it wasn't the answer she gave.</p><p>She tilted her head and blinked at him. "<em>You</em>, Sasuke-kun."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sasuke took approximately five seconds to process what Sakura had just said.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Sakura blinked at him. "I… I thought you knew?" She frowned. "It was when you were in the hospital. Remember that time the Hokage came to see you?" She side-eyed Naruto, and Sasuke stiffened. He remembered. That was the day he'd cried all over her. "When you shoved me, your eyes were red. They looked like Kakashi-sensei's… what did he call it? Sharingan?"</p><p>Sasuke glared at her with all the vehemence he could muster. "And you never mentioned it?!" He snapped. All these years, he could have been training with his sharingan, if only someone had told him. <em>So much wasted time</em>.</p><p>"I thought you knew!" She defended. "I asked Kaa-chan about it that day and she said it'd been happening all week and not to bring it up!"</p><p>Sasuke scowled down at the table. If he'd had the sharingan back then, it must have been triggered by… by his anger at his clan's destruction. The logical part of his brain knew that Sakura was only six and couldn't have known the significance of what she'd seen, but still. "You should have told me." He grumbled.</p><p>"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered.</p><p>"What are you two talking about?" Naruto whined. Sasuke stiffened in his seat; he'd forgotten the moron was even there.</p><p>"None of your business." He snapped. The sharingan and its workings were an Uchiha clan secret. He was going to have to drill Kakashi for everything he knew, but like <em>hell</em> was he going to share information about his clan's kekkei-genkai with <em>Naruto</em> of all people.</p><p>"But—"</p><p>"He doesn't want to talk about it, Naruto." Sakura cut him off. "Leave it alone. We can ask Kakashi-sensei when he wakes up."</p><p>Before anyone could speak again, Tsunami slid the door open and came into the kitchen, smiling at the three genin. "I've set up futons for all of you in the room with your sensei. I'm sorry we don't have another spare room for you, Sakura-chan."</p><p>Sakura smiled brightly. "It's okay." She promised. "I have to get used to sharing with them sooner or later. As long as Naruto doesn't try to peep on me." She levelled a glare at the blonde.</p><p>Naruto spluttered, going red. "I wouldn't <em>peep </em>on you, Sakura-chan! I'd be more worried about Sasuke-teme doing it! <em>He's</em> the one who likes you!"</p><p>"Oh no, he wouldn't!" Sakura brained Naruto before Sasuke could lunge at him. "And no he doesn't!" He settled for glaring at the idiot and trying to force down the pink in his cheeks. Like <em>hell</em> he'd ever be caught <em>dead</em> peeping on Sakura! Or <em>any</em> girl, for that matter!</p><p>"You're a fucking moron." He spat, turning away before either of them noticed the blush. He stood abruptly and stalked to the door. "I'm going for a walk." He said as he slammed the door behind him.</p><p>He was sick and tired of people assuming that there was something between him and Sakura. They were <em>twelve</em>, for goodness sake. The number of shopkeepers or older kids that called her his 'little girlfriend' over the years drove him crazy; like for some reason the fact that they were a boy and a girl meant they couldn't just be <em>friends</em>. He wasn't interested in Sakura like that. Hell, he wasn't interested in <em>anyone</em> like that. He had more important things to worry about.</p><p>And now Naruto was fucking accusing him of planning to <em>peep</em> on her.</p><p>He clenched his fists and stalked across the wooden walkway toward the trees. He had the presence of mind not to go too far—he was in unfamiliar territory and his squad leader was out of commission—but he just needed to get <em>away</em> from everyone else. He hadn't had the chance to be alone in two days now.</p><hr/><p>Sakura sighed as Sasuke slammed the door and vanished.</p><p>"What's with him?" Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.</p><p>Sakura shook her head. "You're an idiot." She intoned sagely. "He doesn't like being around people for so long." It was something she'd learned early on in their friendship; he put up with her presence most of the time, but he really did prefer to be alone. She supposed it was now her job to distract Naruto from tearing after him when he needed space.</p><p>"Why not?" Naruto complained. "No one <em>ever</em> wants to be around me. I'd <em>love</em> it if people never left me alone like they do with him."</p><p>Except that wasn't really true. The kids their age all admired Sasuke, sure, but she'd noticed some of the adults giving him weird looks over the years. She supposed it was because he was the last of his clan; <em>everyone</em> knew that the Uchiha had all been wiped out in a single night, leaving Sasuke as the only survivor. That sort of reputation wasn't exactly a comfortable one, she was sure.</p><p>"Whatever." She said, instead of voicing those thoughts. She was sure Naruto wouldn't get it anyway. "Just leave him alone."</p><hr/><p>Kakashi was awake the next morning. As soon as Sasuke heard the news, he grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged her back upstairs.</p><p>"Sasuke-kun, what—"</p><p>"Hey, you jerk! Let her go!"</p><p>"Kakashi." Sasuke pulled her into the room and shut the door in Naruto's face. The blonde had followed them upstairs—they ignored him pounding on the door as Sasuke held it closed.</p><p>"And a good morning to you, too, Sasuke." Kakashi said mildly. He was conscious, but still not strong enough to sit up. "Good morning, Sakura."</p><p>"Good morning, Sensei." Sakura rubbed her arm where Sasuke had pulled on her. He'd let her go as soon as she'd entered the room. "How are you feeling?"</p><p>"Tired." Kakashi sighed. "But I don't think Sasuke came up here to ask after my condition." He turned his eye back to the boy. Naruto had finally been steered away by Tsunami, who had likely come upstairs to see what all the shouting was about.</p><p>"You have the sharingan." He said accusingly.</p><p>"I do."</p><p>"How?" Sasuke demanded. "That ability is only passed down through the Uchiha bloodline. You're not one." Sakura gasped at his side.</p><p>Kakashi struggled to sit up. Sakura darted forward to help steady him. "It's a long story. The short version is a friend died and left it to me." He said with finality, indicating that he didn't intend to discuss the topic further.</p><p>Sasuke didn't care. "Who was this friend? How did he die? When?"</p><p>"Uchiha Obito. Battle. In the war." Kakashi said in clipped tones. "I'm not discussing it any further."</p><p>"But—"</p><p>"Sasuke-kun," Sakura put her hand on Sasuke's arm. "Does it matter? It's obvious that he doesn't want to talk about it."</p><p>No, Sasuke supposed. No, it didn't matter. There were other, far more pressing concerns. Besides, if Kakashi had been in possession of the sharingan since the Third War, then he couldn't have stolen it from the compound that night. "Teach me how to use it."</p><p>"I beg your pardon?" Kakashi's voice betrayed surprise.</p><p>"I have the sharingan." Sasuke insisted. "Teach me how to use it."</p><p>That seemed to take Kakashi aback. "I was unaware that you'd awakened it. It wasn't in your file." Their teacher peered at him.</p><p>Sasuke shot Sakura a look. "Tell him."</p><p>"It's true, Sensei." She nodded vigorously. "I saw it once, a long time ago. So did my mother. It looks just like yours."</p><p>Kakashi peered between them for a few, tense moments. Sasuke could practically see the gears turning in his head. "Can you call upon it at will?" He asked eventually.</p><p>Sasuke scowled. "If I could I wouldn't be asking you to teach me." He snapped.</p><p>Kakashi sighed. "Then there's not a lot I can do for you at the moment." He said apologetically. "I don't have to call upon it; the eye is always active. Once you figure out how to call it up, then I can help you."</p><p>"Isn't there <em>anything</em> you can do, Sensei?" Sakura pleaded, cutting off Sasuke's temper. "Anything at all? If it's an Uchiha clan ability, Sasuke-kun should know how to use it. It's only right."</p><p>Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose I can teach you chakra control techniques." He shrugged. "It'll help all three of you, actually. And when you figure out how to call on the sharingan you'll be able to regulate how much chakra it expends, allowing you to use it for longer periods of time."</p><p>"Will it make him exhausted like you?" Sakura asked, a hint of unease in her voice.</p><p>"No, I have the Uchiha bloodline to draw on." Sasuke dismissed her concern. "My body is made to handle it."</p><p>Kakashi inclined his head. "It exhausts me the way it does because I'm not an Uchiha." He agreed. "You'll still need to build up stamina with it," he said to Sasuke, "but you're right. You have a chance of becoming far more proficient at extended use of it than I am."</p><p>"Fine. When do we start the chakra training?" Sasuke demanded.</p><p>"I should be able to move about tomorrow. Take today to rest up after our travelling. It's been a long few days." Kakashi frowned, going silent for a moment. "For now, go get Naruto. There's something that's bothering me…"</p><hr/><p>Sasuke spent the rest of the day outdoors. Evening found him sitting on the edge of the wooden deck that surrounded the house, trying to recall <em>anything</em> he remembered about the sharingan and its workings. He'd been very young when <em>that person</em> had awoken it, and didn't remember very much about the circumstances or how he used it. Because he'd never had it back then, he was never privy to all the secrets surrounding it; now that he was alone, he was flying blind. It was so <em>frustrating</em>, knowing that he had <em>access</em> to the secret power of his clan, but not knowing how to <em>use</em> it.</p><p>He heard Naruto approach a few times, only to be intercepted by Sakura who demanded that the idiot leave him alone. He was grateful. He really didn't want to deal with Naruto today. He was already on edge from Kakashi's realisation that Zabuza was still alive and could be back at any minute. Unfortunately, the moron slipped by her while she was helping Tsunami make dinner. Sasuke stiffened, preparing to leave when Naruto took a seat next to him, dangling his legs over the edge of the deck. "What do you want?"</p><p>Naruto scowled at him. "What're you all pissy for?" He demanded. "Is it because of what I said last night? About you liking Sakura-chan?"</p><p>"Tch." Sasuke refused to look at him. "You piss me off in general. And I don't like her."</p><p>Naruto spluttered for a moment. Sasuke didn't care. He simply stared out into the horizon, watching the sky change colours as the sun began to set.</p><p>"You're an asshole, you know that?" Naruto eventually accused. Sasuke glared at him. "No, really. I don't know what kind of stick you've got up your ass," Naruto wrinkled his nose, "but you're upsetting Sakura-chan."</p><p>"Whatever." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Besides, she's fine."</p><p>Naruto gave him an incredulous look. "Right. And I've just been imagining her looking at the door and sighing all day." He rolled his eyes right back. Sasuke was surprised he'd noticed anything, considering his chronically bad observation skills, but he refused to comment.</p><p>"Not my problem." Sasuke dismissed.</p><p>Naruto looked like he wanted to punch him. "I don't know how she puts up with you." He said eventually, anger in his voice. "She's pretty and nice and she obviously likes you, but you treat her like shit!"</p><p>Sasuke stamped down the warm feeling in his cheeks at the mention of Sakura's feelings for him. No, he wasn't unaware of them. But she'd never forced the issue and seemed happy to be friends. It sometimes made things weird, but they both ignored it when it happened until things went back to normal. "You don't know what you're talking about." He snapped instead of addressing it.</p><p>Naruto's fists clenched. "I know that if <em>I</em> had a friend like Sakura-chan," he spat, "I wouldn't be such an ass to her all the time!"</p><p>"But you don't." Sasuke stood, tired of the conversation. Maybe it was a low blow, but he didn't care. "Leave me the hell alone."</p><p>"You bastard—" Naruto scrambled to his feet and took a swing at him.</p><p>Sasuke ducked and swept his feet out from under him, sending him toppling over the edge of the deck and splashing into the water. "Instead of lecturing me," Sasuke sneered down at other boy, "you should be training for when Zabuza shows back up, Dead Last."</p><p>He turned on his heel and stalked back inside, ignoring Naruto's splashing and cries of "Get back here, you bastard! I'm gonna kick your ass!"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sasuke stared up at Sakura from her perch on the tree branch, silently gawking. How the heck had she done it?</p>
<p>Kakashi praised Sakura's natural talent. Even Naruto seemed impressed. Sasuke just glared at his tree and tried again. And again. And again. He was comforted by the fact that she only seemed to be able to do it with a running start; Kakashi had moved her along to walking up the tree rather than running, and she was now falling just as often as they were.</p>
<p>"Hey, Sakura-chan?"</p>
<p>Sasuke froze when he heard Naruto address the girl.</p>
<p>"What is it?" She asked, brushing herself off as she pulled herself to a sitting position.</p>
<p>He heard Naruto whispering to her; chancing a glance out of the corner of his eye, he saw her watching him over Naruto's shoulder before she turned her attention back to the blonde.</p>
<p>"The trick," she said, loud enough for her voice to carry, despite Naruto's attempts to shush her, "is to keep yourself calm and focus. Relax and concentrate on pooling the correct amount of chakra in the soles of your feet. If you get distracted, you'll fall."</p>
<p>That seemed simple enough. He'd admit that Naruto's obnoxious complaining was starting to get on his nerves and was distracting him. He nodded in thanks to her when she glanced at him again, and she smiled before climbing to her feet. "We should head back."</p>
<p>"Huh?" Naruto looked up at her.</p>
<p>"It's getting dark." She shrugged. "Tsunami-san will have dinner ready soon. You can't train on and empty stomach! We should all rest up and try again tomorrow."</p>
<p>"No thanks." Sasuke refused to look at them.</p>
<p>He heard Sakura huff and plant her hands on her hips. "You'll get distracted when you're hungry and tired, Sasuke-kun." She admonished. "You'll do better tomorrow after some rest."</p>
<p>He glared at her. She was right, he knew. It wasn't often she took that tone with him, but she was usually right when she did. "Fine."</p>
<p>"You too, Naruto." She dragged the idiot up to his feet and began tugging him back toward the house. "We'll all get a good night's sleep and you'll both make it to the top tomorrow!"</p>
<hr/>
<p>Sakura turned out to be half right.</p>
<p>Sasuke stood on the lowest branch of his tree, looking down at his teammates, panting heavily after his descent from the top. Naruto was making headway, but Sasuke had beaten him, much to the blonde's chagrin. Sakura's advice had proven to be good.</p>
<p>"Very good, Sasuke." Kakashi drawled from his spot nearby, nose in his book. "You can try walking like Sakura now. Naruto, keep trying."</p>
<p>Naruto let out a cry of frustration. Sasuke tuned him out.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Their fifth day in Wave, and Sakura had managed to master tree-walking. Sasuke wasn't too far behind her—he could make it most of the way now. Naruto had yet to manage running, but he was getting closer.</p>
<p>The boys allowed Sakura to drag them back to the house for dinner; they were all dirty and sweaty, and all in need of a bath before turning in. Sakura, as she had every day since they arrived, took the first shower. Sasuke and Naruto had fought for the second for the first few days before Kakashi had pulled rank and told them that they would alternate. Today was Naruto's turn.</p>
<p>Sakura found Sasuke in the same spot that Naruto had the other day while he was waiting for his turn. Quietly, she took the spot next to him, leaving a respectful foot of distance between them. She smiled at him and he glanced at her, and they both turned their attention out to the water.</p>
<p>"Kakashi-sensei told me that I'm going to go to the bridge with Tazuna-san tomorrow." Sakura said quietly, twisting a lock of pale pink hair between her fingers.</p>
<p>Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment. "Zabuza hasn't shown up yet."</p>
<p>"Well, we don't know how badly injured he actually was." Sakura chewed on her lip. "It could be that he'll be out of action for weeks."</p>
<p>"Or he could be watching us right now." Sasuke pointed out darkly, making her jump. "We're not ready." The words were bitter on his tongue.</p>
<p>"I know." Sakura's voice was quiet. Then, "I'm scared."</p>
<p>Sasuke looked at her. Her eyes were misting over alarmingly quickly as she looked at him. He stiffened; he never knew what to do when she cried. "You're a kunoichi." He reminded her.</p>
<p>"I know." She took a shaky breath. "But I just… you saw how much trouble Kakashi-sensei had against him. There's no way we can take him."</p>
<p>"We have to." Sasuke grit his teeth. "I don't plan on dying here."</p>
<p>Sakura's smile was wobbly before she turned her eyes back to the sunset. They were quiet for a moment before she asked, "Have you managed to figure out the sharingan yet?"</p>
<p>"No." He growled. The subject was touchy. Then, remembering how she had advocated for him in front of Kakashi the other day, he sighed. "I have no idea what I'm doing." He muttered darkly.</p>
<p>"We should do some research when we get back to Konoha." Sakura suggested. His head snapped up to look at her. She beamed at him. "I'm sure there's <em>someone</em> in the village who used to have an Uchiha friend or teammate with the sharingan who could tell you <em>something</em>." Her voice was so bright and hopeful.</p>
<p>Sasuke scowled. "Not likely. It's a closely guarded secret of the clan. You don't even have <em>access</em> to the secrets until you awaken it, and revealing anything to anyone who doesn't have it is strictly forbidden." His mouth twisted. "My entire… both of my…" he hesitated, before forcing himself to go on, crushing the pain and wondering why he was even bothering to tell her this, "…my parents had it, and I still don't know much about it. I don't know how Kakashi managed to keep it. An outsider has no business knowing anything about it, let alone <em>having </em>one."</p>
<p>"Oh." She sounded crestfallen. "I'm sorry. I… it was just an idea."</p>
<p>"It's fine." He dismissed her. At least it was Sakura, and not Naruto, that had brought it up this time. He'd never spoken much about his family to her before. He shoved the memories away again. "I'll figure it out."</p>
<p>"I know you will." She nodded firmly. He snuck a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling at him. "There's never been anything you haven't managed to master." She reminded him. "You've almost got tree-climbing, like, twice as fast as Naruto!"</p>
<p>He felt his mouth tug into a smirk as warmth flooded his chest, and he huffed in amusement. "Beating that idiot isn't something to brag about." He didn't really mind that Sakura had beaten him at the tree walking exercise; she had a mind like a sponge and probably remembered some obscure little detail from a lecture at the academy that gave her an edge, and it wasn't really like it made her any stronger than him. Yeah, it <em>bothered</em> him, but not as much as it would have if it'd been Naruto.</p>
<p>She giggled. "That's mean, Sasuke-kun. He tries hard."</p>
<p>"Too bad he's a moron. He might actually get somewhere if he wasn't."</p>
<p>She laughed outright, the sound echoing along the water. When she turned back to him, she was grinning. "I'm gonna go inside and see if Tsunami-san needs any help." He nodded as she climbed to her feet. "I'll tell Naruto to hurry up. He's been in there for ages."</p>
<hr/>
<p>On the seventh day, Sasuke mastered tree-walking.</p>
<p>Naruto managed to run to the top.</p>
<hr/>
<p>On the eighth day, Zabuza attacked.</p>
<p>Sasuke finally figured out his sharingan.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"I'm <em>fine</em>."</p>
<p>Sakura scowled at him as she knelt by his futon, holding a roll of bandages in one hand and a bottle of antiseptic in another. "You look like a pincushion with the pins taken out." She countered.</p>
<p>Naruto laughed at them from his own futon on Sasuke's other side. He glowered at the blonde. "You two… have the same exact expression." The blonde wheezed.</p>
<p>"Shut up, Naruto." Sakura sniffed. "You're next."</p>
<p>"Hey, <em>I'm</em> not gonna complain, Sakura-chan!" He said brightly. "You make a really great nurse!"</p>
<p>She flashed the blonde a smile before turning her frown back to the dark-haired boy. "My mother would kill us both if you got sick from an infection." She scolded. "Now take off your shirt and let me redo your bandages!"</p>
<p>"You're not fussing this much over Kakashi." Sasuke groused, but did as he was told. Memories of Haruno Mebuki scolding him for not properly caring for even the most minor training wound flashed through his mind; Sakura's mother had the irritating habit of making him feel like a child, sometimes.</p>
<p>"He's an adult." She sniffed, moving to undo the bandages wrapped around his torso. His body was littered with small, round puncture wounds and scratches. "And he's not on bedrest."</p>
<p>"<em>We</em> don't need to be, either." Sasuke grumbled, slapping her hand away and undoing the bandages himself.</p>
<p>"Sensei's orders." She said primly, reaching forward and ripping off the adhesive bandage on his cheek. He gave her the filthiest look he could muster; she smiled innocently before moving to sit behind him. He ignored the sting of the antiseptic as she dabbed it onto his wounds, scowling at Naruto, who was wiggling his eyebrows at him.</p>
<p>"Don't even think about it." Sakura's firm grip on his shoulder prevented him from lunging at him. "You heard what Sensei said. You're not allowed to leave this bed except for bathroom breaks for two days." He huffed and refused to speak.</p>
<p>"It's not so bad," Naruto said slyly. "We get to lay around and let a pretty girl fuss all over us. I'd call that a win."</p>
<p>"I'm going to set you on fire." Sasuke warned as Sakura giggled, embarrassed. When she moved to the front of him to start disinfecting the cuts on his front, her face was pink.</p>
<p>"Be nice, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said softly, eyes flickering up to meet his before returning to her work. "Naruto helped out a lot yesterday."</p>
<p>"Yeah! I totally saved your ass, Sasuke!" Naruto crowed.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't go that far. I'm sure Sasuke-kun would have gotten out of those mirrors eventually," Sakura rolled her eyes as Sasuke seethed, "but you definitely helped a lot."</p>
<p>Sasuke actually didn't know much of what happened on the bridge after he'd passed out. One moment, he was looking up at Naruto from within the mirror jutsu—the next, Sakura was crying all over him and everything was over. He was actually kind of annoyed that he'd fainted. Kakashi had said that his body had likely reached its pain tolerance and, compounding that with the amount of chakra he'd exhausted, couldn't continue to function even with all the adrenaline in his system; nothing to be ashamed of, the older shinobi had said. It happened to veterans all the time.</p>
<p>Looking down at the multitude of stinging wounds on his torso that Sakura was wrapping up, he frowned. He wasn't even that badly hurt. If he'd gotten a major would, okay, sure, he could accept passing out. But it all looked so… pathetic.</p>
<p>"You can do your legs, right Sasuke-kun?" Sakura's chirp brought him back to the present as she gently smoothed an adhesive bandage over his cheek. He nodded and she gave him the antiseptic and bandages before shuffling over to Naruto, digging another set out of her pouch. "Your turn! Shirt off!"</p>
<p>"You don't have to ask <em>me</em> twice, Sakura-chan!" Naruto gave an exaggerated wink and Sakura flushed red before punching him in the shoulder. "Ow!"</p>
<p>"Don't be a pervert!" Sakura scolded. "You're lucky you're injured or I'd have beaten you to a pulp!"</p>
<p>"Tch." Sasuke rolled his shorts up to the top of his thigh and got to work treating his wounds. His legs hadn't fared so badly; there was a small cluster of puncture wounds on his left thigh, but otherwise most of the wounds were small scratches.</p>
<p>He glanced at Naruto. Somehow the idiot was less wounded than he was. He supposed that made sense; he <em>had</em> dived in front of an attack meant for the other boy. He still didn't know why he'd done it. It was like the moment he'd realised Haku's intent, his body had just <em>moved</em>, placing himself between their attacker and his teammate. It made no sense. He'd spent the entire time on Team Seven wanting to be <em>rid</em> of the obnoxious moron. But, he supposed, he didn't want the guy <em>dead</em>.</p>
<p>"All done!" Sakura announced a few minutes later, standing at the foot of their futons and glaring at them with hands on her hips. "Now, you two behave! If I have to come up here to break up a fight you won't get any dinner!"</p>
<p>It was kind of funny, how she thought she sounded authoritative. He just rolled his eyes and laid down, drawing the blanket up to his chin and turning away from Naruto. "Whatever."</p>
<p>"We'll be good, Sakura-chan! Promise!"</p>
<hr/>
<p>They were, in fact, <em>not </em>good. Both went to sleep hungry that night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sakura is the boss of them and no one can tell me otherwise.</p>
<p>Also we skipped over a lot this chapter; mostly because things played out exactly as they had in canon.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sasuke headed straight home when Team Seven arrived back in the village. He'd had enough of his team for the past few weeks and was looking forward to a quiet night on his own.</p><p>Unfortunately, it was not to be.</p><p>He'd just showered and dressed in his pyjamas—a little early, at five in the evening, but he was <em>tired</em> and was planning on an early night after two and a half days of nonstop travel and broken sleep—when there was an insistent knock at the front door.</p><p>He frowned. No one other than Sakura ever came to visit him, and he doubted very much that her parents would let her out of their sight after nearly a full month away. Though only the first week or so had been eventful for the team, Kakashi had used the extra time to teach them advanced chakra control techniques, such as walking on water and using chakra to throw objects with their feet. He'd also spent some time with Sasuke independently while Sakura helped Naruto with his chakra exercises, teaching him basic imitation and minor genjutsu with the sharingan.</p><p>He sighed when the knock came again, louder this time. Hair still damp from his shower, he opened the door and looked up into Haruno Mebuki's stern features. She didn't even speak before reaching out and tugging him into a hug; he froze, caught completely unawares.</p><p>"You… <em>reckless</em> boy!" She hissed into his ear as he stood stiff in her arms. "Sakura told us all about what happened in Wave. Don't you <em>dare</em> do anything like that ever again, do you hear me?"</p><p>He could only manage a choked "What?" as she released him and swept into his apartment.</p><p>Despite never having been inside before, she marched directly to his fridge and opened it without preamble, tutting at the use-by dates on whatever was left within. He followed in a state of shock, still uncomprehending that the woman was in his home.</p><p>She eyed him up and down critically as she closed the door. "Alright. You get dressed, now. You're coming over for dinner."</p><p>"Huh?"</p><p>"Well, you don't expect me to leave you like this, do you?" She raised her eyebrows. "Honestly, Sasuke-kun, what kind of woman do you take me for? You'll spend the night at our place and come shopping with us tomorrow so I can be sure you've actually got something edible in your house."</p><p>"That's—I don't—"</p><p>"No buts!" She shooed him into his bedroom. "You've got five minutes, you hear me?"</p><p>When the door closed behind him, he blinked. "<em>What the fuck</em>?"</p><p>"Language, young man!" He winced at her tone through the door. "Hurry up, or I'm coming in!"</p><p>Keen to avoid <em>that</em> particular brand of humiliation, Sasuke sighed and did as he was told; he'd known Sakura and her mother long enough to know when he was fighting a losing battle. He'd managed to avoid going to the Haruno house since being placed in his genin squad, but now it seemed that he wasn't going to be able to get out of it.</p><hr/><p>If he expected her to lead him straight home, Sasuke was mistaken. Instead, she kept looking at a piece of paper in her hand as she led him through the busy village streets, before coming to stop at a very dilapidated-looking apartment complex. He stared up at the building. Green paint peeled off the walls, and the ceramic roof tiles were in shambles. He followed her up the rickety stairs, until she came to a halt in front of one of the doors. She frowned and knocked.</p><p>"Coming!" Sasuke heard a familiar voice. His eyes widened and he was filled with dread.</p><p>
  <em>No.</em>
</p><p>Naruto opened the door, blinking up at Sakura's mother. "Yes, ma'am?"</p><p>"Are you Uzumaki Naruto?" She asked bluntly.</p><p>Naruto's face coloured. "Look, whatever they said I did, I didn't do it! I've been out of the village until like three hours ago. You can ask Kakashi! He—"</p><p>"She knows, idiot." Sasuke crossed his arms and rolled his weight back onto his left heel, enjoying the way Naruto's eyes widened as he leaned to see around Mebuki and took him in. The straps of his backpack dug into his arms. "This is Sakura's mother."</p><p>"S-<em>Sasuke</em>?!"</p><p>"My name is Haruno Mebuki." She pushed her way into Naruto's apartment, much like she had at Sasuke's. He sighed and followed her in, Naruto gaping at the two of them like a fish out of water. He caught the blonde's eye and shrugged, face deliberately impassive. "Sakura told me all about what happened in Wave Country. You're coming over."</p><p>"<em>Huh</em>?!"</p><p>Sasuke tuned them out as he cast curious eyes around Naruto's home. Unlike Sasuke, who actually managed to keep his apartment clean, Naruto's was a mess; clothes, books, and scrolls were strewn everywhere, and there were old cups of instant ramen littered along most surfaces. He wrinkled his nose at the smell of old milk coming from the kitchenette, wondering how the hell Naruto managed to live in such a state. He could see <em>cockroaches</em> climbing the wall to his left.</p><p>"What a pigsty." He heard Mebuki huff after Naruto had summarily been bullied into gathering his things. "Honestly, you'd think the village would take better care of him, considering—" she frowned and cut herself off. "Well, children your age shouldn't be living on their own, anyway."</p><p>Sasuke bristled. He'd been looking after himself perfectly <em>fine</em> for five years, after the steep learning curve when he'd first been released from hospital. "It's better than the orphanage." He grumbled. Even <em>he</em> had heard stories of how Naruto had been treated by the orphanage staff before the Hokage had deemed him old enough to live independently.</p><p>She pursed her lips as she looked at him, but didn't comment. Naruto came back out, looking unsure as he hefted his backpack on. "Are you sure it's okay for me to come over, Haruno-san?"</p><p>"Call me Mebuki." She eyed him. "And yes. I wouldn't have invited you, otherwise. Now, you boys are coming to the market with me to get things for dinner, and then we're going home."</p><hr/><p>Naruto was unusually quiet during their trip to the village market, his eyes flitting between Sasuke and Mebuki. Sasuke simply shrugged again and followed the older woman.</p><p>"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto crept up and whispered to him, "is she gonna like… I dunno, yell at us for Sakura-chan being in danger or something?"</p><p>Sasuke shook his head.</p><p>"How do you know?"</p><p>He gave Naruto a flat look. "She isn't like that." At least, Sasuke didn't think so.</p><p>"What do you boys think? Beef donburi or udon?" Mebuki asked over her shoulder as they reached the first stall.</p><p>"Uh, I don't mind." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. Sasuke just shrugged. Again.</p><p>"Hm. Udon it is, I suppose." She concluded, stalking forward. "You boys wait here."</p><p>They milled about awkwardly, standing to the edge of the sidewalk so as not to obstruct foot traffic. Sasuke honestly didn't know what to say; this was <em>not</em> how he expected his evening to go.</p><p>"She's… scary." Naruto murmured.</p><p>Sasuke snorted. "She's just like an older Sakura." Which was true; Sakura was far more like her mother than her father. Sure, she had some of Kizashi's warmth, but her bossiness was <em>definitely</em> inherited from Mebuki.</p><p>"Yeah, but Sakura-chan is scary, too!"</p><p>Sasuke look at him incredulously. Sakura, <em>frightening</em>? Then, he huffed and looked out over the street, annoyed. "You'll like her father. He's an idiot, too." He said as an attempt to distract him.</p><p>Naruto scuffed his sandals against the cobbled street. "You know them all really well, huh?"</p><p>"Sakura and I have been friends since we were seven." He said tightly. "Of course I know her parents."</p><p>Mercifully, Naruto lapsed into silence. The air was thick with discomfort between them. They still fought with each other regularly—in fact, they'd had a near-brawl at the village gates when Kakashi had dismissed them. It seemed that Mebuki's presence had cowed Naruto. He wondered how long that would last. Mebuki put up a stern front, but he knew she was soft underneath. Her gruffness masked genuine care. Once Naruto figured that out, he'd probably be back to his loud, obnoxious self, and Sasuke wold go back to fighting headaches in his presence.</p><p>"Alright!" Mebuki reappeared a few minutes later, holding out a shopping bag for each of them to take. "Home we go."</p><hr/><p>"Sakura!" Mebuki called as the boys took their shoes off. "You have visitors!"</p><p>"Just a minute!" Sakura's voice floated from upstairs.</p><p>Mebuki took the bags from them and bustled into the kitchen to start dinner as a series of thuds came from upstairs. Sasuke jerked his head for Naruto to follow him into the living room.</p><p>"Ah, Sasuke!" Kizashi looked up from his newspaper. "And you must be Naruto!"</p><p>"Ah, yes!" Naruto bowed low. "It's nice to meet you!"</p><p>"My name's Kizashi. Sakura just got out of the shower, so she'll be down in a minute." The man grinned at them. "Put your bags down and take a seat."</p><p>Sasuke dropped his bag in the usual corner and took his usual spot. Naruto followed suit. When they'd settled, they heard Sakura thundering down the stairs. "Hey, sorry! I was—what are you guys doing here?"</p><p>Sasuke and Naruto looked over their shoulders. Naruto beamed. "Mebuki-san invited us!"</p><p>Sasuke snorted. "More like she barged into our apartments and ordered us to spend the night." He corrected.</p><p>Kizashi guffawed. "That sounds like Mebuki, alright."</p><p>Sakura flushed, eyes wide in horror. "Okaa-san!" She cried and disappeared into the kitchen.</p><p>Kizashi busied himself with getting to know Naruto as Sasuke rested his chin in his hand, elbow on the table. The smell of food cooking filled the house as he heard Sakura and her mother bickering in the kitchen, before the girl returned with a tray of tea and senbei. She set it down and squeezed herself between the boys, nudging them both to move to make room for her. "I'm sorry, guys." She murmured. "Sometimes, Okaa-san's just…"</p><p>"Hn."</p><p>"It's all good, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said brightly. "This is the first time I've been invited anywhere for dinner that wasn't by Iruka-sensei!"</p><p>Sakura shifted guiltily, pouring the tea.</p><p>"Well, we'll just have to make it a regular thing, then!" Kizashi boomed. "We used to have Sasuke over every Friday for dinner, but <em>someone</em> has been avoiding us, lately." He gave Sasuke a pointed look that the boy ignored.</p><p>"I've been busy." He shrugged.</p><p>"Yes, yes, the life of a shinobi is very busy." Kizashi sighed. "But there's always time for friends!"</p><p>Sasuke frowned at him in confusion. "I see Sakura every day already."</p><p>"I'm not talking about Sakura, boy!" Kizashi laughed. "Mebuki and I like to see you, too, you know! And besides, missions and training are work, not spending time with friends!"</p><p>"It's not so bad." Sakura said demurely, nibbling at a senbei. "We have fun, sometimes. We spent a lot of time on the water in Wave Country!"</p><p>"Yes, about that." Kizashi leaned his elbows on the table and fixed Sasuke with a serious stare. "Sakura told us what happened on your mission. Are you alright?"</p><p>"I'm fine. My injuries weren't <em>that</em> bad." Sasuke met his gaze. Naruto coughed something that sounded like '<em>pincushion</em>'. "Shut up, loser!"</p><p>Kizashi frowned at him for a moment more before shifting his attention to Naruto. "And Sakura tells me that you helped them a lot in the fight. I want to thank you for that."</p><p>Naruto flushes under the man's gaze. "Yeah! Uh, I… we're friends, right?" He stammered. "Or… we're getting to be."</p><p>"Of course we are." Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're just the <em>obnoxious</em> friend."</p><p>"Hn." Sasuke sat up straighter. He didn't know if he'd call Naruto a <em>friend</em>, but he was certainly obnoxious.</p><hr/><p>Sasuke had rarely entered Sakura's bedroom, even in all the time he'd known her. The walls were plain, with old paint, and lined with old furniture that looked as if it had seen better days. Her small bookcase was overflowing, scrolls and textbooks spilling out over her desk and in small piles on the floor.</p><p>"I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you guys tonight!" She rushed around the room, picking up her books and stray pieces of clothing. "Um, it'll be tight, but you can set up the futons wherever. Here, let me…" She leaned all her weight against her closet, forcing it to shuffle a few inches toward her desk in order to open up the room a little more. "Will that be enough space?"</p><p>Sasuke sighed and rolled out his borrowed futon along the length of her bed. Naruto was left with the space next to the wall, in the area Sakura had cleared by moving her closet. "This is fine." Sasuke shot Naruto a glare. "As long as the idiot stays in his own bed."</p><p>"Hey! That was <em>one</em> time!"</p><p>"Whatever. Don't touch me again."</p><p>"You—! "</p><p>"Naruto! Don't break my room!"</p><p>"He started it!"</p><p>"I don't care who started it," Mebuki's voice carried from down the hall, "I'll finish it!"</p><p>The three of them winced.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The only reason the Harunos haven't officially adopted Sasuke yet is because no one will let them.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Life returned to normal following their disastrous mission in the Land of Waves, with one small exception.</p><p>They were assigned more C- than D-ranks now, much to <em>everyone</em>'s delight; missions that involved retrieval of stolen property, capturing dangerous animals, or guarding the occasional civilian were now their norm. It did wonders for their morale, now that they weren't subject to the whims of irresponsible pet owners or busy parents, and Sasuke found himself looking forward to the times when their work would take them out of the village. Each and every trip was an opportunity to improve himself a little more, and with the interest that Kakashi was taking in him and Naruto, their skills were improving.</p><p>Sasuke was on watch, charged with tending the fire while the others slept. In an hour, he would wake Naruto for his shift and finally sink into his sleeping bag. Their escort mission had been relatively uneventful, but they'd run overtime due to the whims of their client, and now had two days to make a three day return journey, forcing Kakashi to push them harder than he otherwise would have. His legs ached from the punishing pace the jōnin had set, but he relished the sensation. Pain meant that he was pushing his limits, and pushing his limits meant that he was able to improve. Ever since his encounter with Zabuza and Haku, he'd been even more zealous in his training.</p><p>Sakura sighed for the nth time that night.</p><p>"Go to sleep." Sasuke said in a low voice, so as not to wake the others.</p><p>"I can't." She whispered back, pink head appearing from within her sleeping bag. "I'm not tired."</p><p>"We ran all day. How can you not be tired?"</p><p>She grimaced. "You guys ran." She sighed again. "Sensei carried me, remember?"</p><p>He grimaced. Right. Sakura had been unable to keep up with the boys, so Kakashi had hauled her onto his back and taken off, leaving Sasuke and Naruto to keep up on their own. Sakura's speed was fine, but her endurance was terrible; when it became apparent that she was lagging behind, Kakashi usually called a break or modified their pace so she could keep up, but unfortunately their tight schedule meant that they couldn't do that this time.</p><p>Anyone who looked at Sakura compared to the rest of their team would think that she was lazy, but Sasuke and Naruto knew different. It was just that her skills weren't in the same sphere as theirs; she was the unofficial first aid provider on the squad, the smart one with the genius-level chakra control whose tiny chakra signature meant she could hide rather well as long as she didn't move. She was often their lookout while the others worked offensively; twice now, on other missions, she had alerted them just in time for them to avoid messy fights. She was the personable one, the one who dealt with the clients and locals when they were forced to pass through the odd village.</p><p>That wasn't to say that she didn't need to improve. As it was, if she was caught in combat, she was done for. He had a sneaking suspicion that that was why Kakashi gave her the easy jobs.</p><p>"I can take over, if you want to get some extra sleep." She offered.</p><p>"You already took your watch. I'm fine."</p><p>"But Sasuke-kun—"</p><p>"Go to sleep."</p><p>She sighed and rolled over, facing away from him.</p><hr/><p>As had become habit, Sakura led her teammates home when they arrived back in the village. Naruto had taken to the new ritual with his customary enthusiasm—dinners at Sakura's house usually meant sleepovers, and after spending most of his time alone, Sakura suspected that he was glad to be included in anything vaguely resembling the familial.</p><p>Sasuke, she got the impression, only went along with it because of her mother's insistence. The next few times after their first sleepover, he'd declined Sakura's invitations, only to be bullied into attending anyway by Mebuki. It had become so common that the boys simply left their previous set of clothing to be laundered at the Haruno household, so they didn't have to pack an overnight bag anymore.</p><p>"I think Okaa-san said something about ordering out for ramen this time." She said brightly to Naruto as they climbed the steps to her home. "She's probably working right now but I'll call the hospital and let her know we're home."</p><p>"Awesome!" Naruto cheered, always enthusiastic about the idea of his favourite food. "Hey, Sakura-chan, do you mind if I have a shower? I've still got mud in my hair."</p><p>"Go ahead." She waved him over to the stairs. "Sasuke-kun, you can have the next one after him. I can wait."</p><p>A note by the phone told her that her father was away on a mission for a few days. She dialled the hospital from memory and waited for someone to answer. "Hello. My name is Haruno Sakura. I'm looking for Doctor Haruno Mebuki?"</p><p>"<em>One moment."</em></p><p>She leaned against the wall as she was put on hold, the tinny music floating in one ear and out the other. She could vaguely hear Sasuke shuffling about in the kitchen, likely making tea.</p><p>"<em>Sakura?"</em></p><p>"Hi, Okaa-san." Sakura chirped. "I just wanted to call to let you know that we're back from our mission. Do you know what time you'll finish tonight?"</p><p>She heard her mother sigh. <em>"Not until late, unfortunately. We're short-staffed and I was asked to do a double shift. Are the boys there?"</em></p><p>"Yeah." Sakura pressed her lips together. "Do you want me to send them home?" She'd never had them over without her parents there, before.</p><p>"<em>Of course not." </em>Her mother huffed. <em>"There's money on my dresser. You can either make or buy something for dinner, but don't let Naruto into my kitchen again."</em></p><p>Sakura giggled. The time before last, Naruto had insisted on helping her mother make dinner. The result had been rather a large mess and two broken appliances. "I think we'll just go get ramen. Do you know when Otou-san will be back?"</p><p>"<em>A few days. I've got to go. I'll see you in the morning. Love you."</em></p><p>"Love you, too, Okaa-san." Sakura farewelled and hung up the phone. When she wandered into the kitchen, Sasuke was measuring tea leaves carefully with a spoon. "Looks like Okaa-san won't be back 'til late, and Otou-san's away from the village. I figured we'd just go out for dinner at Ichiraku or something after we've all showered?"</p><p>He glanced up at her before dumping the leaves into the hot water. "Fine. At least it'll keep the idiot happy."</p><p>She beamed at him, pleased that he didn't even ask to go home. She was starting to suspect that he liked these visits more than he let on, sometimes. It had to beat an empty apartment, right?</p><p>The sound of the water running upstairs cut off abruptly. Naruto's voice called out, "Sakura-chan, where are my clean clothes?"</p><p>"In the cupboard under the sink!" She called back. Giving Sasuke a fondly exasperated look, she shook her head. "You'd think he'd remember that, considering they've been there the last three times, right?"</p><p>"I keep telling you," Sasuke huffed, "he's a <em>moron</em>."</p><hr/><p>Sakura sat between her boys at the ramen stall, eyes sparkling with mirth at Naruto's exaggerated retelling of one of their most recent exploits. The owner, Teuchi, and his daughter Ayame, were listening with rapt attention.</p><p>"That's not what happened, idiot." Sasuke cut in for the third time, not looking up from his bowl. "You fell on your ass and <em>Sakura</em> tackled the boar."</p><p>Sakura flushed as Teuchi and Ayame's eyes travelled to her. "<em>You</em>, Sakura-chan?" Ayame gasped. "I never pictured you as a fighter!"</p><p>"I'm not, really." She bit her lip, trying not to smile. "But it saw Sasuke-kun barring the gate and ran by me, and… well, we were meant to catch it, right?"</p><p>"You were awesome, Sakura-chan!" Rather than be embarrassed that he'd been caught embellishing the details, Naruto turned to her with genuine praise. "Even Kakashi-sensei said so! I don't think I've ever seen you move so fast!"</p><p>"Guys, it was just a wild boar." She demurred, fiddling with her chopsticks. "It wasn't like it was a person who could fight back."</p><p>"Wild animals are dangerous." Teuchi reached out to ruffle her hair. "You still have to be careful when dealing with them."</p><p>"He's right." Sasuke said, unexpectedly. Sakura's neck snapped around to look at him so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. "Remember when he," he jabbed his chopsticks in Naruto's direction, "wrestled with that ostrich?"</p><p>"Hey, we agreed that that never happened! And that bird wasn't wild!"</p><p>"Neither was Daimyo's wife's cat, but it still scratched you to shit every time."</p><p>"Yeah and I'm not convinced you didn't use some kind of witchcraft on it when you carried it around!"</p><p>"It's called 'catnip', dumbass. Kakashi gave it to us, remember?"</p><p>Sakura laughed. These were her favourite times; sitting with her friends and listening to their bickering. This wasn't the type of fight that would turn physical; this was just them getting under each other's skin for the fun of it. She'd gotten good at recognising when something was going to get ugly and required her to step in, but ever since the fight with Haku on that bridge, the boys had seemed to develop a grudging respect for each other. Sasuke still called Naruto an idiot and Naruto still called Sasuke an asshole, but the bitter sting of the words had long disappeared by the time they returned to Konoha.</p><p>She was glad. For a while, she had been afraid that they really would hate each other forever, with her caught in the middle. Sasuke was already her friend, and she was determined to be friendly with Naruto, after her little epiphany all those months ago on the day they were assigned as Team Seven. But it seemed like things had fallen into place.</p><p>Not to mention, when it counted, the two boys worked <em>really well</em> together. She bit her lip and frowned into her ramen at the thought. The longer she was with them on missions, the more she realised that she didn't really do much. Kakashi gave her the easy jobs—stay with the client; keep a lookout; distract the mark while we sneak up on him, I promise we won't let him hurt you; Naruto and Sasuke got themselves hurt again, can you give them first aid while I finish up? Nothing that really demanded anything from her. She didn't even really get to participate in team training sessions anymore. Most of the time, while the boys worked with each other and their sensei, Sakura would resort to perfecting skills she already had, like her chakra control or her aim with shuriken or kunai.</p><p>She never did have that talk with Kakashi-sensei that she promised herself she would. She wondered if it was too late, now.</p><p>"What's the matter, Sakura-chan?" Naruto broke through her glum thoughts.</p><p>She blinked, looking between Sasuke and Naruto; the boys were peering at her with identical frowns. "It's nothing." She forced a smile. "I'm just tired."</p><p>"Me too!" Naruto made a show of stretching his arms over his head. "Let's head back after this bowl, okay?"</p><hr/><p>Sakura offered to run errands for her mother in the morning, so she walked with Naruto and Sasuke into the village. Halfway to the market, the little kid that followed Naruto around like a bad smell appeared as if from nowhere.</p><p>Sasuke's eye twitched as soon as Naruto called the kid out. He ignored the beginnings of their bickering and turned away; he had no interest in whatever they were about to start on about.</p><p>"Hey, Naruto-nii-chan! Who's that girl?" A glance over his shoulder revealed the little runt pointing at Sakura. "She your girlfriend?"</p><p>"Nah, she's Sasuke's girlfriend." Naruto snickered.</p><p>Sasuke almost choked. A tug at the hem of his shirt forced him to look down. "Not bad, Sasuke-nii-chan." The kid whispered with a wink.</p><p>The twitch in his eye grew more pronounced.</p><p>"<em>Naruto</em>!" Sakura, being closer, was the first to hit the idiot over the head. "Quit saying things like that!" Then she whirled on the little kid. "And you!" She hit him too for good measure. "I am <em>not</em> Sasuke-kun's girlfriend!" She turned around, cheeks pink and nose in the air, and started stalking away.</p><p>"Oww," Konohamaru whined at Sasuke's feet. "Naruto-nii-chan, are you sure that's even a girl? She hits like one of Jii-chan's monkeys!"</p><p>Sasuke shook his head at his stupidity and took several careful steps to the side when Sakura froze mid-step. The dangerous intent rolling off her was more palpable than many a jōnin's.</p><p>Taking advantage of everyone's distraction, he escaped to the trees, watching them disappear around the corner. He leant against the trunk of the tree and exhaled before deciding to head to the market on his own.</p><p>Naruto's shouting drew his attention before he departed. Sticking to the trees in case Naruto was just making a fuss over nothing, he rounded the corner and took in the sight of Konohamaru dangling from the grip of a Suna-nin.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakura was uncharacteristically quiet after Kakashi gave them the chūnin exam applications. She trailed behind the boys as they made their way through the village, staring at the piece of paper in her hands.</p><p>Sasuke stopped at the corner where he would turn to go home; Naruto, oblivious and chanting to himself about how he was going to become a chūnin soon, kept going. When she realised that Sasuke was looking at her, she paused. "What is it?"</p><p>"Don't look like you've already failed." He said brusquely, shoving his hands in his pockets.</p><p>She grimaced, looking back down at the paper. "I just don't think I'm ready." She murmured. "I can't even keep up with you and Naruto… I'm always dragging the team back."</p><p>"No you're not." He huffed.</p><p>"Yeah I am." She smiled sadly, meeting his gaze. "I know Kakashi-sensei doesn't really have much hope for me. There's a reason he only trains you guys."</p><p>"<em>Sakura</em>," he said in exasperation.</p><p>"It's fine, Sasuke-kun." She said with false cheer. "I've just been thinking about it a lot lately, is all. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"</p><p>He watched her go with a frown.</p><hr/><p>Naruto was practically vibrating with excitement as he waited for his team outside the academy the next afternoon. He'd spent the morning polishing his hitai-ate to perfection and <em>perfectly</em> printing his name on his application, and now there was nothing to do but wait. He'd even gotten there early, watching the other applicants file past.</p><p>Sasuke arrived first, coming to stop silently beside him while Naruto was trying to figure out which village a group of nearby participants belonged to.</p><p>"They're Kusa-nin." He said blandly, making Naruto jump.</p><p>"Geez, Sasuke!" He complained. "What the hell? You didn't have to sneak up on me!"</p><p>"Pay more attention." Sasuke snorted. "You're supposed to be able to tell when there's someone around."</p><p>Naruto felt his face burn and bit his tongue. He was in a good mood, damnit, and he wasn't going to let the asshole ruin it.</p><p>"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke asked, instead of pushing the issue.</p><p>"Not here yet." Naruto shrugged. "Neither is Kakashi-sensei, but he's always late."</p><p>"Hm." Sasuke was frowning. Naruto was just about to open his mouth to ask what his problem was when the other boy turned around and glared.</p><p>Naruto followed his gaze, finding the three genin from Suna from the other day. The guy with the face paint had spotted them and was scowling almost as fiercely as Sasuke was. "I hope we get to kick their asses in the exam." Naruto growled.</p><p>"I want to fight the one with the gourd." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the redhead. "Gaara."</p><p>Naruto shuddered. "Man, that guy gives me the <em>creeps</em>." He complained.</p><p>"Who does?"</p><p>Both boys spun to find a grinning Sakura, standing with her hands clasped behind her back. Naruto caught the way Sasuke looked her over, as if assessing her; her grin dimmed a little and she shrugged at him in a silent exchange that Naruto couldn't decipher. Then Sasuke looked at Naruto, clearly expecting him to speak.</p><p>"Uh, that Gaara guy!" He pointed toward where the Suna-nin were.</p><p>Sakura <em>tsk</em>ed and grabbed his arm. "Don't point! It's rude!" She hissed. "But yeah, he's a bit weird." Her eyes flicked toward the group and back.</p><p>"Tch." Sasuke shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Are we going in or not?"</p><p>"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered, punching the air. "C'mon guys, we've got an exam to ace!"</p><p>"You've never once aced an exam in your life." Sasuke reminded him, moving toward the academy doors. "You barely managed to pass any of them."</p><p>"You shut your mouth!"</p><hr/><p>Sakura was acting weird. Normally she trailed behind the two boys, but today she was positively dragging her feet. Sasuke made Naruto stop to wait for her at the top of the stairs, where dozens of other genin were assembled. When she reached them, she frowned and looked around; but she skipped over their fellow genin. Trying to figure out what, exactly, she was looking for, Sasuke cast his eyes around.</p><p>And then he realised. They were in a genjutsu.</p><p>It was strong enough that they wouldn't be able to break it just yet, but she'd still noticed. He doubted he would have had she not.</p><p>Which meant that they were on the wrong floor.</p><p>"Please, just let us pass!"</p><p>The two older kids guarding the door sneered as one of them struck the girl who spoke—so hard that she fell backwards, next to another kid in green. They didn't seem to be much older than Sasuke or his team.</p><p>"You might as well give up." The one who had hit her scoffed. "Trust us, we've failed this exam three times. If you can't even get past us then there's no way <em>you're</em> going to pass."</p><p>"Chūnin are stronger than all of you; they're assigned more difficult missions and are often mission leaders." The other added. "None of you are fit to be responsible for a whole squad."</p><p>Sasuke shouldered through the crowd, leading Sakura and Naruto with a jerk of his head. "Them, maybe." He forced himself into a relaxed posture, hands in his pockets as he looked the boys up and down. "But you're going to let us through. And you're going to release the genjutsu; we're on our way to the third floor."</p><p>"But, isn't <em>this</em> the third floor…?"</p><p>"Genjutsu?"</p><p>"The heck is he talking about…?"</p><p>He ignored the hushed chatter behind him and cocked his head toward Sakura. "You noticed it a while ago, right Sakura? You've become better than me and Naruto at noticing genjutsu."</p><p>Sakura's cheeks coloured as she blinked at him with wide eyes. Then, she grinned. "Yeah, I did. This is the <em>second</em> floor." The whispers behind them raised in volume as others began to notice, now that it'd been pointed out. The genjutsu melted away, revealing the numbers 201 on the sign above the door.</p><p>"Not bad." One of the guards grinned. "But all you did was see through it."</p><p>Sasuke raised his knee to kick out as the older boy kicked at him. He was prepared to meet him blow for blow; but the ridiculous-looking kid in green stepped between them, catching both legs in his bare hands.</p><hr/><p>Sakura stared at the spectacle in front of her. The shock was plain on Sasuke's face as the boy released his ankle, taking a step back and staring. The strange boy was chastised by his teammate, before turning to face Sakura.</p><p>"Hi." He strode forward. "My name is Rock Lee." He announced. "Yours is Sakura-san?" She nodded carefully. He took a deep breath, and then, sending a ripple of shock through her, grinned widely and said, "Will you go out with me? I swear I'll protect you until I die!"</p><p>She couldn't help the face she pulled; the guy was the most <em>ridiculous </em>looking boy she'd ever seen. Large bushy eyebrows and a bowl cut, plus a green jumpsuit…? "Uh, no."</p><p>"Sorry, man," Naruto snickered. "She's already got a boyfriend." He pointed at Sasuke.</p><p>"I see…" the boy's enthusiasm evaporated, his entire frame drooping with disappointment. Sakura's face burned. "I'm sorry to bother you, Sakura-san."</p><p>"Naruto!" Sasuke kicked the unsuspecting blond in the lower back, sending him crashing to the ground, his cheeks the faintest of pinks. "How many times do I have to beat it into your thick skull—"</p><p>"I was joking!" Naruto cried, raising his hands to ward off the follow up kick. "Just joking! I swear!"</p><p>Sakura hid her face in her hands. It was bad enough that she had been in love with Sasuke since before they were even friends; to have Naruto <em>constantly</em> teasing them about it was <em>mortifying</em>. She was good at pretending, most of the time, that Sasuke's rare smiles didn't make her stomach do flips, or his occasional praise didn't make her heart flutter. She had gotten good at ignoring the way her skin tingled any time he touched her. She was <em>happy</em> being his friend.</p><p>At least, she was until Naruto started making his stupid jokes. Then it was just painful.</p><p>She hid the pain by rounding on Naruto, who had just climbed to his feet and was watching a furious Sasuke warily, and punching his shoulder. "I keep telling you to <em>cut that out</em>!"</p><p>"I'm <em>sorry</em>, Sakura-chan!"</p><p>"Let's just go." She huffed, grabbing his and Sasuke's wrists and pulling them toward the stairs for the third floor. They were making a scene and she wanted to get as far away from the stares of the crowd as possible. "We're going to be late."</p><hr/><p>Sasuke was so shocked that he couldn't even take the fall properly; he crashed into something soft and floral-smelling, and realised that Sakura had raced to catch him. He felt the bruise blossoming across his jaw and spat out blood, staring at Rock Lee as he was scolded by a… talking turtle?</p><p>"Are you okay?" Sakura asked him in a low voice, concern bleeding into her tone.</p><p>He wiped a smear of blood off his chin with the back of his hand. "Yeah. I'm fine."</p><p>"Hey…" Naruto, who had finally woken up from the blow Lee had knocked him out with, crept over. "That's a turtle, right?" He asked, as if he wasn't sure exactly what they were seeing.</p><p>To be fair, Sasuke wasn't exactly sure what they were looking at, either. The talking turtle was going on a tirade; Lee stood before him, shoulders drooped and head hanging. Sasuke couldn't believe he'd lost to such a… freak. It made him grit his teeth despite the pain. Even the sharingan hadn't been able to help him—he'd <em>seen</em> the moves coming, but Lee was right; without the speed to match him, there was nothing Sasuke could have done. It made his gut twist and his blood boil. He still wasn't strong enough.</p><p>"Isn't that obvious?" Sakura snapped. Now that her attention wasn't on him, Sasuke winced and unclenched his jaw. That kick had <em>hurt</em>.</p><p>"Then… is that his sensei?"</p><p>"It's a <em>turtle</em>!"</p><p>And then, as if the day couldn't get <em>any</em> more bizarre, a man poofed into existence atop the turtle, wearing the same green monstrosity as Lee.</p><p>Sasuke stared. Naruto and Sakura's bickering halted as the three of them took in the scene.</p><p>"Oh gods," Sakura said faintly, "his eyebrows are even worse than Lee's…"</p><p>"He looks fuckin' <em>weird</em>." Naruto agreed.</p><p>"Hey! Don't insult Gai-sensei!" Lee shouted.</p><p>Sasuke couldn't even find the words. This man looked like something out of a circus show—he was obviously Lee's sensei, judging by the lecture the boy was getting. Sasuke thought he might just end himself or his teammates if they ever started to copy Kakashi's style the same way Lee had this freak's. It was… disturbing.</p><p>And then they were <em>hugging</em>.</p><p>
  <em>Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick.</em>
</p><p>"And you three… you must be Kakashi's students!" He disappeared from the other side of the room. Feeling the air move behind them, Sasuke whirled on his feet to see a huge, pearly-white grin beaming down at them. "How <em>is</em> Kakashi doing? Youthful as ever, I hope!"</p><p>"You… know him?" Sakura managed faintly.</p><p>The man laughed, booming and loud. "Know him?! Of course I do! We're eternal rivals, after all. I've beaten him, fifty to forty-nine." He winked. "You could say I'm stronger than Kakashi."</p><p>Sasuke fought the urge to take a step back. If this guy was a sensei then, impossible as it seemed, he must be a jōnin. And he was so <em>fast</em>. <em>Stronger than Kakashi…?</em></p><p>"I'm sorry about Lee." He was going on, addressing Sasuke directly. "I swear on my youth that it won't happen again. At least, not outside of the exam!" He boomed with laughter again. "Anyway, you kids should get to the classroom. You've got ten minutes before the deadline!"</p><p>Sasuke found himself looking at Lee as he redid his wrappings. His hands were covered in old scars that were obvious even from a distance.</p><p>"I'm sorry." Lee approached them, tucking the edges of his bandages in. "I lied to you before, when I said I was the strongest genin in the Leaf; I'm not, but that person <em>is</em> on my team. I entered these exams to fight him, but I also look forward to meeting you in a proper match." He gave Sasuke a thumbs up and then gave Sakura a flirtatious wink that she hid from behind Naruto. "We'll meet again, Uchiha Sasuke!" He promised, taking off toward the classroom where the exam was to be held.</p><p>"Guess the Uchiha clan ain't worth much, these days." Naruto said lightly crossing his arms behind his head as they moved to follow him at a more sedate pace.</p><p>"<em>Naruto—</em>!" Sakura began, glancing at Sasuke out of the corner of her eye. He was always testy when his clan was mentioned.</p><p>For once, Sasuke ignored the slight. "I'll beat him next time." He swore, shoving his hands into his pockets.</p><p>"Yeah, right." Naruto teased. "You just got your <em>ass</em> kicked!"</p><p>"So did you!" Sakura reminded him, slapping the back of his head.</p><p>"Ow! Sakura-chan!"</p><p>"Stop picking fights, Naruto! We're going to be late!"</p><p>"You saw his hands, right?" Naruto asked him at a lower volume, making Sakura look between them as Sasuke nodded. "He's probably trained pretty hard. And he wasn't in our class, so he's been doing this longer than we have. That's all it is."</p><p>Sasuke was… grateful, he supposed, for Naruto's attempts to cheer him up. He smirked. "This should be fun." He mused. There were bound to be even more strong people like Lee in the exams—people that he could test himself against, to see how strong he was getting. "Come on Sakura, Naruto."</p><p>Naruto thrust his fist into the air. "Yeah, let's do this!"</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry guys. I hate the canon-heavy stuff as much as you do.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If luck was the sole requirement for promotion, Sakura privately mused that Naruto would be Hokage already.</p><p>"Seriously, Naruto?" She shook her head. "You couldn't figure that out?"</p><p>They were following the second examiner, amidst the crowd of examinees. As usual, Sakura walked between the boys, facilitating conversation and acting as a buffer.</p><p>"I'm not surprised." Sasuke snorted.</p><p>Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. "When did <em>you</em> guys figure out that we were supposed to cheat, anyway?" He asked.</p><p>Sakura made a face. "I didn't figure it out, exactly… but I realised pretty quick that they expected us to." She admitted sheepishly. "I didn't cheat."</p><p>"Hah! You either, Sakura-chan?" Naruto crowed. "Looks like Sasuke is the only dirty cheater here!"</p><p>"The only reason Sakura didn't cheat was because she's smart enough not to need to, dumbass." Sasuke sniffed. Sakura felt her face burn. "Besides, we were <em>supposed</em> to cheat. You're probably the only idiot in the room who didn't figure out that they wanted us to."</p><p>Sakura's heart thumped through the explanation of the second exam, the warm, pleasurable feeling of Sasuke's praise quickly becoming icy terror at the prospect of having to potentially fight to the death. She wasn't ready for this. Her book smarts had carried her through the first exam—she didn't know <em>what</em> she would have done if she'd been forced to cheat—but her combat abilities were far below that of her teammates.</p><p>She was going to hold them back.</p><p>If it were only her, if she were the only one whose future was on the line, she would have dropped out. She had been confident in the written test because of her book smarts, and while she was sure she could manage to survive in the wilderness for a week or two, there was no <em>way</em> she was ready to fight anyone to the death. Honestly, she didn't think Naruto had it in him to kill, either. Maybe in self-defence, but… and Sasuke… well, it was something she didn't even want to think about.</p><p>Still, she took the consent form and signed it along with the others, barely holding her hand steady as she handed it to the examiner. Sasuke tucked their <em>Heaven</em> scroll in his supplies pouch, and the three of them shuffled off to their assigned gate.</p><p>When they arrived at the gate, they used the time to take stock of their supplies. They'd packed their shinobi tools, having learned from Kakashi that a good shinobi never went anywhere without a fistful of shuriken and a handful of kunai, but none of them had thought to pack enough food and water for more than an afternoon. Their only comfort was that others were likely in the same boat.</p><p>"Our first goal should be to find a water source." Sakura nodded to herself. "We can go a few days without food, but water is too important."</p><p>"The examiner mentioned a river." Sasuke said thoughtfully. "But all the other teams will make a beeline for it. It'd be safer to find a pond or lake."</p><p>"But we need to fight the other teams for their scrolls!" Naruto protested.</p><p>Sakura sighed. "But if there are too many enemies, we'll be overwhelmed." She shook her head, long pink hair swaying with the movement. "We need to be smart about this. We can't afford to get caught in a brawl."</p><p>"<em>Fine</em>." Naruto huffed.</p><hr/><p>The three of them sped into the forest at the sound of the horn, Sasuke leading the other two. For once, Naruto didn't try to fight him to take charge. They slowed their pace when they'd made a decent trek in, taking the time to identify familiar plants and animals.</p><p>A scream tore through the air, causing them all to tense up. "That… that was a person, right?" Sakura breathed, turning her face toward the sound. It wasn't exactly close, but the fact that they could hear it at all was cause for concern. "I have a bad feeling…"</p><p>"It-it's fine, Sakura-chan!" Naruto hastened to reassure her, though he sounded less than convinced himself. "But hang on a sec, I gotta pee."</p><p>Sasuke cast his eyes around the surrounding landscape as Sakura and Naruto bickered; Sakura ended up threatening Naruto into going to take his leak in the bushes. Everything seemed quiet, but there was a slight unsettled feeling in Sasuke's gut. It only intensified when the other boy returned.</p><p>Sasuke knew immediately that it was an imposter. He felt his gut clench as the fake stepped closer to Sakura, who was busy berating him for being crude in front of a girl; he flash-stepped in front of her and struck the Naruto-fake across the face with his fist, sending him flying back a foot and crumbling to the ground.</p><p>"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried shrilly. "What was that for?!"</p><p>"Where's the real Naruto?" He demanded of the imposter. He heard Sakura make a confused sound behind him. Honestly, the girl was smart, but apparently her observation was as bad as the blonde's.</p><p>"What the heck are you talking about?" The imposter demanded, wiping blood off his jaw.</p><p>"Don't play dumb. Your shuriken holster is on the wrong leg. Naruto's right handed." Sasuke scoffed. "You're even worse at <em>henge</em> than the idiot is."</p><p>The imposter sneered and released the transformation. "Damn, you kids are better than I thought," he sneered. "Which one of you has the scroll?"</p><hr/><p>Sakura had never been more afraid in her life. Sasuke and Naruto had managed to fight off the first guy who had impersonated the blonde, but this other guy was in a whole league of his own.</p><p>She couldn't move; Naruto was gone, blown away by some kind of attack she couldn't recognise, leaving she and Sasuke at the mercy of the Kusa-nin who was slowly approaching, kunai at the ready. She felt tears well up as nausea washed over her, brought on by the sheer murderous presence of the enemy. She'd never felt anything like it. Even the encounter with Zabuza hadn't felt like this.</p><p>She couldn't move.</p><p>She was going to die.</p><p><em>She was going to die</em>.</p><p>
  <em>SHE WAS GOING TO DIE!</em>
</p><p>Sasuke's arms came around here and then there was the sensation of flight, awareness coming back to her as they landed with a hard jolt on one of the tree branches. Sasuke didn't stop to let her down, hands clutching tightly around her back and legs as he sprinted as far away as humanly possible from the Kusa-nin; they only stopped when Sasuke stumbled, sending Sakura skidding along a thick bough as he dropped her.</p><p>"Sasuke-kun!" She crawled up to him as fast as she could. He'd collapsed against the trunk of the tree they were in, panting rapidly and wrenching a kunai from his thigh. He'd been hit…! "Are you—"</p><p>He slapped a hand across her mouth, and she got a good look at him, finding an expression she'd never seen on his face before. Pure, unadulterated <em>terror</em> splashed across his features, making him pale and wild-eyed. His hand trembled across her mouth, his eyes frantically scanning the way they came for signs of pursuit. She'd never seen him like this before, <em>ever</em>—not even during the nightmares that he occasionally had during their sleepovers, when it sometimes took him a good ten to thirty seconds for him to come back to reality upon waking.</p><p>And then she noticed the snake. But Sasuke hadn't.</p><p>She wrenched her face away from his hand. "Sasuke-kun! Snake!"</p><p>He threw her away from him as he jumped as far away as possible, screaming something that Sakura couldn't really understand; but the fear in his tone seeped into her gut and turned to ice. He released a volley of shuriken that shredded the giant creature, killing it.</p><p>And then their attacker was back, rising from the corpse of the dead serpent. "You shouldn't relax, not even for a moment." He drawled, voice sickly sweet and coaxing. And then he looked directly at Sasuke. "Prey should always flee from a predator."</p><p>The man did some kind of jutsu that turned his body into a snake, slithering up the trunk of the tree at rapid speed. Sasuke stood frozen in place, watching with wide eyes as the enemy got closer and closer, only to be stopped by a volley of shuriken.</p><p>"Sorry, Sasuke!" Naruto's voice called out from above them. Sakura's eyes snapped up to take in the sight of their orange-clad friend, standing with his arms crossed on a higher branch. "I forgot the password!"</p><p>"Naruto!" She couldn't help the relief that flooded her at the sight of him. He and Sasuke, they could <em>do things</em> together. They'd be able to beat back this guy and they'd get far, <em>far</em> away. Right now she didn't care about passing the exam. She just wanted to get <em>out</em> of there.</p><p>"Naruto, <em>shut up</em>!" Sasuke roared, red eyes never leaving the Kusa-nin. "I know you think you're being cool and saving the day, but we can't take him! He's on a whole other level!"</p><p>"Oi, you!" Naruto ignored him. "Snake-face! Quit picking on the weak!"</p><p>And while Sakura would normally have decked him for such a statement, for the moment it was so <em>normal</em> sounding that she couldn't help but be comforted.</p><p>"Look," Sasuke's voice was far from even as he dug the scroll out of his supply pouch, his eyes fading back to black. "I'll just… give you the scroll. Just… please, take it and leave us."</p><p>"What?!" Naruto roared as Sasuke tossed the scroll toward the other ninja. He leapt from his perch and snatched it out of the air.</p><p>"What the fuck are you doing?!" Sasuke demanded. "Don't you get what's going on here?!"</p><p>And then Naruto punched Sasuke.</p><p>"You're a fake." Naruto declared. "I forgot the password, so I can't check, but the Sasuke I know isn't such a stupid coward!" And if Sakura hadn't been there all along, she might have agreed. But she'd <em>seen</em> what this guy was capable of, had been immobilised by his mere <em>presence</em> alone, and understood why Sasuke was so very afraid. "There's no guarantee he won't kill us anyway after we give him the scroll!"</p><p>After that, everything was a blur. The other guy summed another huge snake as Naruto rushed himself him, but he was taken out with some weird kind of jutsu to the stomach and flung to the side. In desperation to prevent Naruto from being killed by the fall, Sakura, knowing she couldn't reach him in time, flung a kunai and pinned him to the trunk of the tree by his jacket. For the first time, <em>ever</em>, she was grateful for Kakashi's negligence regarding her training; she never would have made that shot without her extra target practice.</p><p>As Naruto dangled by the back of his jacket and Sasuke stood immobile, something in Sakura snapped. For the first time in her life, she was <em>screaming</em> at Sasuke. She hardly knew what she was saying; she was so high on adrenaline and fear that she wasn't thinking straight, the words pouring out of her like a poisonous fount.</p><p>And then Sasuke reactivated his sharingan.</p><p>The change was instantaneous. One second, he was standing, frozen on the bough where Naruto had saved him from being eaten by a giant snake; the next, he was flinging shuriken and kunai at the enemy and pulling on the wires that he'd attached to them, capturing the man and binding him. Never letting go, he made a string of hand signs that Sakura was unfamiliar with and sent a jet of fire so hot that Sakura had to shield herself from it at the older man. She felt sure that he would be burned alive, but to her dismay he was still standing, the thin metal wires that were binding him burned away to nothing.</p><p>Sakura couldn't move again. She same feeling of terror and imminent death that had arrested them at the beginning of the fight had come back at full force.</p><p>"Just as I thought. I want you." The man purred, eyes on Sasuke. "Your eyes may be even better than your brother's."</p><p>"<em>Who the hell are you</em>?!" Sasuke demanded, terror and anger warring for dominance on his face.</p><p>"My name," he said, voice changing from the slightly high-pitched tone he'd been using into something darker, slimier. Sakura saw with a jolt that half of his face had melted away, exposing a second one underneath. "Is Orochimaru. If you want to find me," he held up the scroll he'd stolen from Naruto, showing them as he burned it, "then survive these exams, and come find me."</p><p>"Why the hell would we do that?" Sakura demanded. "We never want to see your face again!"</p><p>"Ah, but Sasuke-kun hasn't got my little parting gift yet." Orochimaru purred. And then, to Sakura's horror, his face darted forward like a snake, teeth sinking in to Sasuke's neck.</p><hr/><p>Pain.</p><p>All Sasuke could feel was <em>pain.</em></p><p>He was distantly aware of Sakura shouting at Orochimaru, shouting his name, taking his hand and shouting for Naruto to wake up and come help them. He couldn't think beyond the searing, <em>burning</em> pain that began at his neck and spread across his entire body.</p><p>"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's voice came from far away. He vaguely felt something—her fingers? He wasn't sure—squeeze his fingers, and then the world tipped and went black.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Unfortunately, these scenes are a little too important to skip over, considering they're integral parts of the story and introduce important characters. I glossed over what I could, but I really do wish I could skip them.</p><p>Non-canon stuff next chapter! I promise!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Have an early update to make up for the last two being mostly canon stuff. There's a little canon in this one, but it's mostly either different versions of canon or completely original!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moving the boys was hard, but Sakura managed it. Dragging Sasuke along the branch and down the trunk, using chakra to both keep her grip on the unconscious boy <em>and</em> keep her feet on the tree, she looked up at Naruto, still hanging where she'd pinned him. She hesitated, crouched by Sasuke's prone form on the forest floor as he twitched and groaned in and out of consciousness. She didn't think he was entirely aware.</p><p>Pragmatism won out. She would have to find a place that was hidden enough for her to keep the boys out of view, and they couldn't stay where they were. Locking her arms under his once again, Sakura dragged Sasuke along the ground, praying that Naruto would be okay while he was out of her sight. She couldn't go very far; now that the adrenaline was wearing off, her arms and legs were beginning to feel like rubber, her entire body trembling as she made her way through the underbrush.</p><p>She tucked Sasuke behind a snarl of exposed tree roots, hoping the shadows kept him invisible to anyone passing above. As quickly as she could, she stumbled her way back to where Naruto was still unconscious. She nearly dropped him as she was getting him down, but she managed to make it back to the forest floor. She cast one last look around, debating retrieving all the scattered weapons, but decided against it. She couldn't leave the boys alone, not in a forest full of enemies and wild creatures. When they woke up they could come back and collect their gear.</p><p>Naruto was lighter than Sasuke, so the trip back to the roots was easier this time. Once he was spread out next to their friend, she spent a few minutes disguising the tracks she'd made by dragging them along the ground. Traps were never her forte, that was Sasuke's skill, but she did what she could with what she had.</p><p>It was a long night. She nearly fell asleep a few times, but she absolutely <em>had</em> to protect them. At some point, Sasuke started trembling in his sleep; placing a hand on his forehead, she gasped at the fever he'd developed. Whatever Orochimaru had done to him was making him sick. She used a set of bandages and some of their precious drinking water to make a cold compress to lay across his brow, and kept checking the both of them periodically. Naruto <em>seemed</em> okay, just knocked out, but she couldn't get him to wake, even with the smelling salts in her pack.</p><p>She jumped at every little sound, fighting sleep the whole night. It wasn't until sunrise that anything happened.</p><hr/><p>When Sasuke was released from his nightmares, the first thing he noticed was that he felt good. <em>Really</em> good. He climbed to his feet, eyes bleeding red with the sharingan. He could <em>see</em> the excess of chakra swirling around his body.</p><p>And then he saw Sakura.</p><p>Rage flooded him at the sight of her, battered and bruised, face swelling, hair shorn off above the shoulders and face and body bleeding-but his voice was deceptively soft when he demanded "Sakura. Who did this to you?"</p><p>"Sasuke…kun?" She stared at him in… fear? Maybe she was right to be afraid; the way he felt right now, he'd rip apart whoever it was that dared to hurt his friend.</p><p>"<em>Who hurt you</em>?!" He demanded.</p><p>"I did!" A voice called from across the clearing.</p><p>Sasuke's head snapped around and his eyes narrowed at the stupid man. He ignored everyone else—the stupid guy with the bushy eyebrows, Team Ten, and the other two Oto-nin—and focused all of his attention at the offender.</p><p>He was going to kill him.</p><p>"Sasuke-kun… those marks on your body…"</p><p>"Don't worry about me, Sakura." He stepped forward. "I'm fine. Better than fine. That guy… he really did give me a gift."</p><p>"Huh?" Sakura's voice was laced with confusion and concern, tinged with a little fear.</p><p>"I get it now." He murmured, though by the way she was staring, she could probably hear him. "What I live for. I've got to avenge them. Even if it means making deals with demons, I need to gain more power." Then, at a normal volume, "So, you say it was you who hurt her?"</p><p>"That's right!" The Oto-nin crowed. "I beat up your little girlfriend!"</p><p>"Zaku!" His teammate, the one with the mask, cried. "Don't!"</p><p>"Shut up, Dosu!" Zaku roared, arms out in front of him. "I'll kill this little half-dead brat in half a heartbeat!"</p><p>Sasuke was no longer listening beyond the confession that this Zaku guy was the one that had injured Sakura. The Oto-nin attacked with sound waves, but Sasuke was faster. Grabbing both Sakura and Naruto, he sped behind the offender and gently put them down. "Hah!" Zaku sniffed when his attack died down. "See? Blew them all away."</p><p>"Did you?"</p><p>It was all the warning Sasuke gave before striking Zaku in the back with the force of a battering ram, sending him flying. He was hardly aware of Team Ten making their getaway as he used his <em>hōsenka</em> jutsu to hide his shuriken, slicing Zaku open before speeding behind him and grabbing his wrists. He planted his foot in the man's back and wrenched his arms back.</p><p>"You seem proud of these arms." He sneered, voice dripping with malice. Then, he pulled back with such force that both arms snapped; Zaku tumbled forward, scream shrill in the morning air. He dropped to the ground when Sasuke released him, having passed out from the sheer pain.</p><p>Sasuke turned to Dosu. "I really," he growled, stepping forward, "hope you're more fun than your friend." He relished in Dosu's single, wide eye.</p><p>"Stop!"</p><p>A weight crashed into him from behind. Craning his neck around to glare at the offender for interrupting him, he was met with a vision of pink and green.</p><p>"Please…" Sakura whispered against his shoulder, seafoam eyes wide and beseeching, "…stop."</p><p>The rage drained out of him. He slumped.</p><hr/><p>Sakura allowed Ino to cut her hair after Naruto woke—more because she could tell the other girl wanted to speak to her rather than out of any actual vanity.</p><p>"I can't believe you!" Ino hissed, voice down so as not to be overheard. Sakura could feel the tickle of cut hair skimming down her neck an arms as Ino evened it out as best as she could. "Hugging Sasuke-kun like that…!"</p><p>Sakura's face twisted into a scowl. "Is that really all you took from that?" She demanded hotly. "Seriously, Ino? He wasn't himself! He was gonna kill those guys!"</p><p>Ino <em>tsk</em>ed. "Don't think I don't see what you're doing." She muttered. "Trying to get Sasuke-kun to like you by acting all tough like that. Your face looks like discoloured mochi."</p><p>Sakura twisted on her knees and slapped the kunai away before rising to my feet. "I think I'll wait until I get back to the village and see a hairdresser." She growled. "I have better things to do than deal with you and your jealousy."</p><p>"Me?" Ino cackled. "<em>Jealous</em>? Forehead, you don't know what you're talking about!"</p><p>Sakura scowled. "Then you shouldn't have a problem with me hugging my <em>friend</em>." She spat. Ino glared. "Face it, you're jealous because I made friends with him and you didn't. Ever since we were little you've always liked him and it <em>kills</em> you that he pays me more attention." Not that Sakura was happy with that. She'd originally tried to make all <em>three</em> of them friends, but Ino's crush had prevented it. The blonde would hang all over Sasuke any time Sakura brought him around, eventually culminating in Sakura choosing her new friend over her old.</p><p>"<em>Sasuke-kun doesn't like you, Ino."</em> She'd said at the time. <em>"And you're making him uncomfortable. I think it's best if the three of us don't hang out anymore."</em></p><p>Ino's pretty face twisted with rage. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, scowling at Sakura. "Whatever you think, Forehead. I'm done here."</p><p>Sakura let Ino push past her toward her team, steaming mad and eyes stinging. It wasn't that she hated Ino. But Sasuke had had no one back then, and Ino had had a whole bunch of friends. But Sakura never forgot that it was Ino who had essentially made her the person she'd become; she was the one that had given her the confidence, and the <em>excuse</em>, to begin talking to Sasuke in the first place.</p><p>The fact that her once best friend hated her because of a <em>boy</em>, even if that boy had become the best friend Sakura had ever had, and someone she loved more than life itself, stung.</p><p>"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Naruto trotted up. "The others are all gone—hey, you're bleeding!"</p><p>"Huh?" Sakura blinked misty eyes, looking down at her body. There were cuts on her arms and legs from the kunai she'd let Zaku hit her with when she was feinting with <em>kawarimi</em>. "Oh, I'm fine."</p><p>Sasuke wasn't far behind Naruto. His eyes took in every cut, every scrape, and every swollen inch of her face. "How long were we out?" He demanded.</p><p>"Overnight." Sakura rubbed at an eye, not bothering to hide her yawn. "We need to go back and get our weapons. I didn't get a chance to collect them."</p><p>Sasuke shouldered past the blonde and grabbed her wrist, tugging her back toward the snarl of roots. "Naruto can go get them." He declared. "C'mere."</p><p>"Hey! Why me?"</p><p>Sasuke didn't bother to look back. "You're the least injured and I'm better at first aid than you. We'll catch up when we're done."</p><p>Naruto's face screwed up into an ugly pout. "Ugh, fine. Which way, Sakura-chan?"</p><p>"That way." Sakura pointed. "It's not very far… I had to move you guys one at a time and I didn't want to leave you behind for long. You'll know it when you see the scorch marks."</p><p>"Scorch marks, got it!" Naruto nodded and disappeared into the bushes. "Don't take too long!"</p><p>Sakura sat when Sasuke told her to, hidden in the shadows of the large tree. He rummaged through his supply pack and unfurled a pack of gauze and bandages. "What happened while we were asleep?" He asked with a grunt, sitting in front of her and beginning to clean her cuts.</p><p>"I can do that." She protested, but he shut her up with a glare and repeated the question. She sighed and explained to him that they had been attacked by the Oto-nin and that the others had come to help. He was surprisingly gentle as he cleaned her wounds as best as he was able, and wrapped her arm and leg with clean bandages. She was so exhausted that she couldn't stop the tears welling back up.</p><p>"Why are you crying?" Sasuke demanded with alarm.</p><p>She sniffled, shoulders shaking. "I'm tired." She said, feeling like a baby even as she said it, tears spilling over her cheeks. "And you guys got hurt and we nearly died. I'm cold and hungry and in pain and I'm not cut out for this, Sasuke-kun."</p><p>"You're fine." Sasuke sighed, dabbing a wet cloth at a cut on her forehead. His eyes were intently trained on her wound. "We survived, didn't we?"</p><p>She hiccupped. "Only because the others came, and because you woke up when you did."</p><p>"And that's all that matters." He said firmly. "There's no use in thinking 'what if'. Trust me." The way he said it made her shudder. She wondered if he often thought of '<em>what if</em>'s about his family. What if they'd never died? What if someone had heard, that night? What if he'd died along with them?</p><p>"That doesn't change the fact that I'm a bad kunoichi." Sakura murmured, eyes trained down.</p><p>"You're not." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you need work, but you're not <em>bad</em>."</p><p>Her stomach fluttered at his words. "Really?" She whispered.</p><p>"I mean, your taijutsu sucks and you need to put on more muscle," Sasuke shrugged, digging around in the kit for adhesive bandages, "but that thing you said you did with <em>kawarimi</em>? That was smart."</p><p>"Thanks." She murmured as he patted the bandage in place on her forehead.</p><p>He grunted and began to undo his training bandages. "Help me with this, then we'll go find the idiot."</p><p>She cleaned his cut while Sasuke looked through what was left of their first aid supplies. They were getting dangerously low. "Sasuke-kun, how's your neck?" She asked as she wrapped the stab wound on his leg.</p><p>"It's fine."</p><p>"Then why do you keep wincing?" She asked, hand rising to pull his high collar to the side.</p><p>Sasuke caught her wrist. "It stings a little." He admitted. "But it's nothing I can't handle."</p><p>"Sasuke-kun, those marks on your body when you woke up… they came from that mark." She whispered. "That wasn't you. I know it wasn't. That Orochimaru guy, he <em>did</em> something to you. I'm worried."</p><p>"Don't be." He released her wrist. "There's nothing we can do about it until we get out of here. And don't tell Naruto about it. I don't want him knowing."</p><p>"But <em>why</em>?"</p><p>"What's the use?" He demanded, standing. Sakura moved to follow him, swaying a little in her exhaustion. She caught herself on the trunk of the tree and steadied. "There's nothing he can do about it, and telling him will only freak him out unnecessarily."</p><p>"But—"</p><p>"Sakura, <em>promise me</em>."</p><p>She bit her lip. "Okay. I promise."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakura fell asleep by mid-afternoon, despite trying to stay awake until night.</p><p>Sasuke carried her on his back as he and Naruto trekked through the dense underbrush, trying to find somewhere to rest. With the pain in his leg and the constant burning on his neck, Sasuke wasn't in any shape to fight, and Sakura was even worse off. The swelling in her face had begun to discolour, nearly closing off her left eye completely. From what she'd told him of the encounter with the Oto-nin prior to his awakening, they were all lucky to be alive.</p><p>"What about over there?" Naruto pointed to a cluster of boulders, sheltered from above by a low-hanging thick canopy of branches.</p><p>"Check what's inside." Sasuke shifted Sakura's sleeping form on his back. "Make sure there's no animals or anything."</p><p>The coast was clear, and Sasuke shook Sakura awake to climb off his back. She'd only been out for an hour or so, but was reluctant to go back to sleep.</p><p>"You're in the worst shape of all of us, Sakura-chan." Naruto crouched beside her. "You should rest some more."</p><p>"Naruto's right." Sasuke rummaged through his pack, drawing out a canteen and draining the rest of the water in it. "Give me your canteens. I can hear running water; I'm gonna go fill them up."</p><p>The forest was quiet as Sasuke slipped through the trees toward the sound of the river. He crouched in the brush as close to the water as possible and reached out to fill their canteens as quickly and quietly as he could. He made note of the fish in the river and decided to send Naruto fishing later. One of the perks of being unconscious all night was that they still had all the food that they'd brought with them into the forest—even if it were only a few protein bars, some apples, and Naruto's single cup of instant ramen, it was better than nothing. All three of them were <em>starving</em>, having kept on the move all day to put some distance between themselves and the other teams. Whatever uneasy truce they'd had against the Oto-nin was no longer in effect.</p><p>"There's fish in the river." Sasuke muttered to Naruto as he handed him his water, speaking low so as not to wake up Sakura. "I didn't see anyone around, so it'll probably be safe to go fishing tomorrow."</p><p>Naruto nodded, munching on one of his protein bars. He cast a glance at Sakura. "She got hurt really bad, huh?"</p><p>Sasuke sat with his back to one of the boulders, eyes facing the direction of the entrance to their little shelter. "She told me some of what happened while we were out." He nodded. He pressed his lips into a line, casting a look at the sleeping girl. "The swelling should go down over the next day or so."</p><p>"What happened to your leg?" Naruto asked around a full mouth, pointing to the bandages.</p><p>"Stabbed myself." Sasuke said blandly.</p><p>"You… stabbed <em>yourself</em>?!" Naruto yelped.</p><p>"Shut up!" Sasuke darted forward and slapped a hand over his mouth. "You'll wake her up."</p><p>Naruto pulled his hand away. "Sorry, but," his eyes were wide as he lowered his voice, "why'd you stab yourself?"</p><p>Sasuke sighed and settled back against the boulder, explaining to Naruto about the fight with Orochimaru, though leaving out the bite and the mark on his neck. Naruto was watching him with a frown on his normally cheerful face. "So we're back to where we started." He surmised.</p><p>"Pretty much." Sasuke leaned his head back against the rock, tearing into his own protein bar. "You wanna take first watch, or me?"</p><p>Naruto ran his eyes over Sasuke, taking in all the small injuries that Sasuke barely noticed. "I will." He volunteered, surprising him. "You look like shit."</p><p>He was so ready to escape the burning on his neck with a few hours of sleep that he didn't even rise to the bait. "Fine. Wake me at midnight. Let Sakura sleep, she was up all last night."</p><hr/><p>It wasn't Naruto who shook him awake later in the night, but Sakura. "I woke up a few hours ago." She explained. "I told Naruto to go to sleep since I was up anyway."</p><p>"What time is it?" He pushed himself up, swiping the grit out of his eyes.</p><p>"About three?" Sakura shrugged. "I'm not sure."</p><p>"You eat?"</p><p>"An apple." She twisted her lips. "We're gonna have to go looking for food tomorrow. We're not gonna last long with what we have."</p><p>"There's fish in the river." He took a drink of water. "You going back to sleep?"</p><p>She shook her head. Short pink strands brushed against her face. It reminded him of when they were little, back before she started growing her hair out. "I'm not tired. You can go back to sleep if you want, but Naruto made me promise to wake you."</p><p>"I'm good." His body ached from lying on the hard ground. His neck was starting to hurt again. He hissed and pressed his head against his shoulder; it did nothing to alleviate it.</p><p>"Is it—?"</p><p>"It's bearable." He said tersely, cutting her off. He cast a pointed look to Naruto, and Sakura sighed.</p><p>"When we get out of here…" she bit her lip, avoiding looking at him, "you really should see a medic, Sasuke-kun."</p><p>"I <em>will</em>. But there's no point in worrying about it <em>now</em>."</p><p>She sighed. "Okay."</p><hr/><p>Their third day in the forest was spent in much the same manner, recuperating from their injuries. On the fourth day, they encountered another Konoha-nin by the name of Kabuto, and with his help, they were safely within the walls of the central tower by the fifth afternoon.</p><p>After Iruka dismissed them and allowed them to enter the tower proper, Sakura grabbed his arm. "Sasuke-kun. A <em>medic</em>." She reminded him.</p><p>"After the assembly." He reminded her. "C'mon."</p><p>"Hurry up, you guys!" Naruto waved them down the corridor, sprinting ahead. "Old man Hokage's gonna give a speech!"</p><p>They lined up with the other genin squads that had passed to listen to the explanation behind the reason for the chūnin exams. Sasuke thought it made sense, even if all the other rookies didn't; as someone who understood the need to be powerful, a shameless display of it to intimidate potential enemies made complete sense.</p><p>And then Hayate appeared and dropped the bomb about the preliminaries.</p><p>"If any of you don't feel up to participating in the preliminary exam, please step forward now. As you have all passed the team portion of this test, individuals may drop out without affecting their teammates."</p><p>"I'll drop out." Kabuto raised his hand.</p><p>Naruto kicked up a fuss, as expected, but he wasn't able to dissuade Kabuto from withdrawing. Sasuke's neck spasmed with pain; he reached up a hand to press against the hurt, screwing his face up in an attempt to ride out the wave.</p><p>"Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered behind him, leaning forward. He half-turned to her. "You should withdraw." She said quietly, so as not to be overheard, eyes on his neck.</p><p>He scowled at her. She didn't get it, did she? "No." He said, turning away to dismiss her.</p><p>She huffed in frustration. "You've been acting weird since that Orochimaru guy put that mark on you." She hissed. "I can tell it's hurting you, Sasuke-kun!"</p><p>"That doesn't matter." He turned back to her, hissing through his teeth.</p><p>"If you don't drop out, I swear I'll tell them about it." Sakura threatened, matching his glare with one of her own. "You should be in a hospital, not fighting!"</p><p>He said nothing, simply scowling at her in disbelief. She, who had known him for five years, who <em>knew</em> his one and only goal in life was to get strong enough to kill <em>that</em> person… she started to raise her hand. His own snatched out to hold it down.</p><p>"Don't you dare." He growled. "Sakura, if you try to get me kicked out of these exams, I'll never speak to you again." She flinched. "I don't care about ranks or promotions; they're not important to me. I just want to test my strength against the best, and that's what this exam is. You <em>know</em> what my goal is."</p><p>"To kill someone." She sniffled, eyes on his hand. "But I don't understand—"</p><p>"I'm going to hunt down the man who killed my clan." He said, hand tensing around her wrist. She gaped at him. "I will kill him and avenge them. I don't care what I have to do to do it, Sakura, and I swear, I'll never forgive anyone who gets in the way of that. Not even <em>you</em>."</p><p>She clutched her other hand to the front of her qipao, eyes searching his face. "But it's <em>hurting</em> you." She protested.</p><p>"I'm <em>fine</em>." He insisted, frustrated.</p><p>"No more withdrawals?" Hayate called from up front.</p><p>"Will you see a medic after your match?" She whispered imploringly.</p><p>He nodded.</p><p>"Okay." She took a shuddering breath. "But <em>I</em> swear, Sasuke-kun, if you don't, I will <em>make</em> you."</p><p>"Alright then, let's begin the preliminaries."</p><hr/><p>"We should make him withdraw. He shouldn't even be alive, let alone participating in the exam."</p><p>"I don't think he'd like that." Kakashi said mildly in an undertone. Anko gaped at him. "He has the Uchiha pride, after all."</p><p>"Kakashi, you can't be serious!"</p><p>"I agree with Kakashi." The Hokage muttered in an undertone. "Orochimaru is likely watching us even now, through a spy if not personally. Disqualifying Sasuke at this point will only make him act in retaliation. Until we know what his scheme is, it would be unwise to provoke him."</p><p>"But Hokage-sama!"</p><p>"Sasuke will compete in the preliminaries." The Hokage overruled her. "However, if the curse mark starts acting up, I will expect the two of you to intervene and stop the match."</p><p>"I… yes, Hokage-sama."</p><p>Kakashi only nodded, watching Sasuke and Sakura squabble quietly behind Naruto.</p><p>
  <em>So, Sakura knows about the curse… though likely not what it means for Sasuke.</em>
</p><p>Secretly, he hoped that Sakura would talk Sasuke out of participating, though he rather doubted it. He might not know everything about his young students, but he figured he knew Sasuke well enough to figure out what was going through his head. Unlike the children, Kakashi knew <em>exactly</em> who Sasuke wanted to kill, and while he didn't blame the boy for wanting to end his brother personally, Kakashi was growing more and more concerned with the boy's obsession. That he had a friend like Sakura, who <em>cared</em>, helped, Kakashi thought, but maybe it wasn't enough. Now that Orochimaru had sunk his fangs into the boy, things were only going to get worse.</p><p>As predicted, the two bickered until Hayate stopped taking withdrawals. A glimpse at their faces told Kakashi all that he needed to know; Sasuke was determined to fight through what had to be incredible pain, and Sakura was a hair's breadth away from telling on him for his own good. Her mouth was twisted into a grimace as her eyes locked on to the mark on Sasuke's neck.</p><p>Sasuke's match was the first to be announced. Kakashi meandered over to his students, waving lazily at Naruto's enthusiastic greeting.</p><p>He paused behind Sasuke, making a show of ushering the other two up the stairs as he murmured, "Sasuke." The boy turned to him. "Don't use the sharingan." His eye lingered on Sasuke's neck.</p><p>"So you know." Sasuke muttered, looking away.</p><p>"If you use any amount of chakra, the curse will act up and consume you." Kakashi explained. "It could kill you."</p><p>"I understand."</p><p>"If it begins to cause trouble, we'll jump in and stop the match." Kakashi looked up to Sakura's pensive face, smiling for her. He saw Sasuke stiffen out of the corner of his eye. "I won't let you die." He promised, walking toward the stairs.</p><p>The match started out badly for Sasuke. His opponent had him on his back within thirty seconds, using some kind of ability to drain his chakra. Kakashi could see Anko itching to jump down and put a stop to the match the instant the curse activated.</p><p>Of course, it was Naruto who came to Sasuke's rescue. "Is that all you can do?!" He shouted down at his friend, goading him on. Kakashi wanted to tell Naruto to calm down; the boy clearly didn't know about Sasuke's handicap. But it seemed to ignite something in Sasuke, who shocked <em>everyone</em> by executing a move that was straight out of Might Guy's playbook. He kicked the other nin so hard that he went flying upward.</p><p>As Kakashi watched, the dark flecks of the curse mark began to spread over Sasuke's shoulder and face, causing him to tense mid-jump under his opponent. He saw Sakura lean forward and heard her gasp; she had already seen this, then.</p><p>But then, as soon as it started, the marks receded, and he continued his offence. Executing a series of kicks and punches, Sasuke drove the older man down into the ground and fell to his knees, panting.</p><p>Hayate checked the unconscious man. "I'm calling this match." He announced. "The winner is Uchiha Sasuke."</p><p>Kakashi didn't bother to take the stairs. He <em>shushin</em>ed to Sasuke's side.</p><p>"Good job." He murmured, ignoring the shouting above from Naruto and the girl on Asuma's team. "And not just the match."</p><p>"Uchiha," one of the medics approached. "Come with us. We'll see to your injuries."</p><p>"Not necessary." Kakashi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I'll look after him personally."</p><p>"As you wish, Kakashi-san."</p><p>Kakashi pulled Sasuke to his feet. "Come with me. We're going to seal that curse mark."</p><p>"Can't it wait?" Sasuke argued. "I want to see the other matches."</p><p>"No." Kakashi said sternly. "You shouldn't have even been fighting. I'm not letting you be selfish anymore today." He nodded to the walkways above. "Sakura is beside herself with worry for you."</p><p>Sasuke looked up to see Sakura wiping tears away. Kakashi wondered what he was thinking. "Fine."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>People were asking about seeing the rest of the prelims. As I said in my notes last chapter, they all played out the same way; Sakura and Ino had a double knockout, Naruto farted in Kiba's face, Neji nearly killed Hinata, and Rock Lee got his arm and leg crushed by Gaara. The poor baby, I feel so bad for him. He's one of the more likable characters, even if he's a lil goofy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakura wasn't allowed to visit Sasuke at the hospital. The nurse at reception had explained to her briefly that <em>no one</em> was being permitted to see him. She didn't go into any further details, but Sakura was smart enough to read between the lines and infer that he was being watched after his run-in with Orochimaru; Sakura, herself, had been questioned by ANBU at length regarding the encounter, leaving her brain feeling like a wrung sponge.</p><p>She stopped in to visit Lee that day, instead. The boy had a habit of pushing himself too far, the nurses told her when she and Ino had come across him trying to train in the gardens. He was going to do more damage to himself that way. Ino had sat with her at Lee's bedside, staring out the window and not saying a word. He'd still been unconscious when the nurses had informed them that visiting hours were over.</p><p>Even Naruto was missing, Sakura thought glumly, off training somewhere with a different teacher, according to Kakashi.</p><p>Sakura sat on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chest, forehead resting on her arms. Two weeks of <em>both</em> of her boys missing was the longest she'd gone without seeing them since they'd been assigned to Team Seven. She hadn't been this alone in a very long time; not since before she met Ino. And after Ino, there had been Sasuke. Now one hated her and the other was hospitalised, and the other person she would have turned to was also gone.</p><p>Since tying with Ino in the preliminaries, Sakura had been feeling at something of a loss. Even <em>Kakashi</em> was nowhere to be found, leaving her to her own devices. She'd seen him briefly once in the village, but he'd dodged her, muttering something about a meeting.</p><p>With no training and no missions, it felt like her life had come to a complete standstill. She couldn't even seek out other training partners from the other teams, since each of the genin squads she knew well enough were all fiercely guarding the new techniques they were learning; as she had two teammates in the finals, they wanted to prevent her from potentially sharing their strategies with Naruto and Sasuke.</p><p>She hated it. She hated the feeling of exclusion and inadequacy. She'd <em>finally</em> felt like she was getting somewhere in the Forest of Death, but the subsequent inactivity had made her question how much—if anything—she'd <em>actually</em> grown.</p><p>So she studied. She studied various forms of ninjutsu and genjutsu, hoping to maybe teach herself something useful, since everyone else seemed too busy to bother with her. Scrolls littered her desk as the days passed without word from any of her friends. She was kind of getting mad. Sasuke was under surveillance at the hospital, so she supposed she could excuse him, but Naruto hadn't so much as sent her a <em>note</em>. She understood that he was training for the exam. But would it <em>kill</em> him to stop by for five seconds one evening to let her know that he was alive? When she saw him next, she was going to throttle him.</p><p>And Kakashi—well, he <em>had</em> always favoured the boys. She supposed he thought there was no reason to be training her if they weren't around.</p><hr/><p>Sasuke woke feeling better. The pain in his shoulder was gone completely, allowing him to breathe easier. He didn't remember anything after Kakashi had sealed the curse mark; the pain and exertion had been too much.</p><p>He swung his legs over the side of the bed, pulling off the blindfold and oxygen mask they'd wrapped around his face. Bare feet touching the cold floor, he stood and did a few experimental stretches. His body felt stiff from laying around, but otherwise he felt more like he had before the forest.</p><p>He spared a moment to wonder what had happened to the preliminaries as he rooted through the drawers next to his bed for his clothes. He <em>hated</em> hospital gowns with a passion. Stripping the offending garment off, he tossed it on his bed and dressed in his laundered clothing. Had Naruto passed? Had <em>Sakura</em>?</p><p>"Ah, Sasuke-san." The door to his room opened and a portly young nurse entered, clipboard in hand. "It's good to see you awake."</p><p>"How long was I unconscious?" Sasuke demanded, in no mood for pleasantries.</p><p>"Almost two weeks." The nurse flicked through the notes on his board. "Kakashi-san asked us to give you this when you woke." He handed over a sealed envelope. Sasuke took it and watched the man warily. "If you'll excuse me, I'll send for a doctor and we can get started on your physical assessment." He ducked out of the room.</p><p>Sasuke ripped the envelope open. Inside was a single slip of paper.</p><p>
  <em>Your first opponent in the finals is Gaara. Meet me at training ground 27 when you're discharged.</em>
</p><p>Gaara. Sasuke cast his mind back to the redheaded kid from Suna with the creepy eyes. He'd never actually seen what he was capable of, but Kakashi likely had.</p><p>Ignoring the nurse's words about an assessment, Sasuke shoved the paper into his pocket and escaped via the window. He knew how hospitals worked; they'd run a battery of tests on him and delay him even further. He was already irritated that he'd apparently missed nearly <em>two weeks</em> of training. At this rate, even <em>Naruto</em> would be better prepared for the finals than he would be.</p><p>He put on a burst of speed. That was <em>unacceptable</em>.</p><hr/><p>"Hey! Stop peeping and come train me properly!"</p><p>Naruto glared at Jiraya. The pervert was too busy watching a pair of women in bikinis splashing in the nearby river to take him seriously.</p><p>"Just keep trying." Jiraya waved over his shoulder. "The more yellow chakra you expend, the easier it will be to draw on the red chakra."</p><p>Naruto felt like he was wasting his time. Yeah, summoning a giant toad would be cool and all, but how exactly was it meant to help him control the red chakra at will? And how was that going to help him in the <em>exam</em>?</p><p>He tried again.</p><p>The tadpole had legs this time.</p><hr/><p>"Kakashi-san!" The nurse on duty was frantic. "I spoke to Sasuke-san just a few minutes before he disappeared—I don't know what happened! I've already reported him missing to the Hokage, and ANBU are searching for him."</p><p>Kakashi was aware. An ANBU messenger had shown up at his door ten minutes ago with the news that Sasuke had gone missing. Of course, with Orochimaru slithering around, people had assumed the worst.</p><p>Kakashi, however, knew his student by now. "Was he given the note I left for him?"</p><p>"Yes, Kakashi-san. I handed it to him myself."</p><p>Kakashi sighed. "Thank you. I'll be going now."</p><hr/><p>"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?" Kakashi asked mildly as he finished climbing over the ledge at the edge of the designated training ground. Sasuke had heard him coming and paused in his kata; he'd spent the past hour or so waking his body up after several days of inactivity in preparation for training. "You should have waited to be discharged. Now ANBU is scouring the village for you."</p><p>"I hate hospitals." Sasuke grunted. He had even before he lost his family. He didn't know what it was; something about the sterile white, antiseptic-scented corridors unsettled him. And after the murder of his clan, he'd begun to associate that particular event with hospitals as well, further adding to his dislike.</p><p>"Well, nothing to be done about it now, I suppose." Kakashi sounded put-upon as he summoned a clone. It jumped off without a word. "I'll send word to ANBU that I've found you so they don't waste the manpower."</p><p>Sasuke rolled his eyes. If his teacher was trying to guilt him for taking off, it wasn't going to work. "You told me to meet you here." He prompted.</p><p>"I did." Kakashi pulled out a square of paper and handed it to Sasuke.</p><p>"What's this?" Sasuke turned it over, expecting writing. It was blank.</p><p>"It's for testing your chakra nature." Kakashi explained. "Normally we wouldn't be testing for natures at this stage of your career, but your grasp of chakra control and general skill at ninjutsu is good enough that I think I can teach you something before the exam, even with half the time gone. I'm assuming it'll be fire, but it's always best to be sure."</p><p>"How does it work?" Sasuke turned the paper back over, not sure what he was looking for.</p><p>"Channel your chakra through your hand into the paper. How it reacts tells us your nature."</p><p>Sasuke shrugged and did as he was told. The paper crinkled immediately. He held it up to Kakashi. "Well?"</p><p>Kakashi's lone eye crinkled. "Well, this is a surprise." He took out another square of paper and held it up for Sasuke to see. It crinkled between his fingers. "Generally, Uchiha have a fire nature, but it appears yours is lightning, like mine. Given that, it's incredible that you manage <em>katon</em> so well for your age. I suppose it was expected of you. Your father was a hard taskmaster, from what I understand." Kakashi mused.</p><p>Sasuke didn't care for mentions of his family. "So I'll have an easier time mastering <em>raiton</em>?" He assumed.</p><p>Kakashi shrugged. "In theory. You still have to learn how to channel lightning-aspected chakra. How long did it take you to master <em>katon</em>? Nature transformation and all?"</p><p>"A month."</p><p>"And given your inexperience with ninjutsu in general at the time, your learning curve would have been steeper." Kakashi nodded. "Alright. How would you like to be able to learn my <em>chidori</em>?"</p><hr/><p>"Sakura!" Mebuki flung the door open at the end of the day. "Are you home?"</p><p>"Yeah?" Sakura appeared at the top of the stairs, looking down at her mother. The older woman was scowling. "What's wrong?" Sakura wondered what she'd done to deserve such a look. Mebuki kicked her shoes off savagely and stomped into the house. Sakura trailed after her warily. "What is it, Okaa-san?"</p><p>"Have you heard from Sasuke-kun today?" Mebuki demanded, throwing the fridge open and beginning to pick out ingredients.</p><p>Sakura's eyes widened. "No? It's he still in the hospital?"</p><p>"He's <em>supposed</em> to be." Mebuki sniffed. "He just took off this morning. It threw the entire place into an uproar!"</p><p>"Did they find him?!" Sakura demanded, immediately thinking of Orochimaru. She <em>knew</em> the man was still after him.</p><p>Mebuki sighed. "Apparently. They sent for Kakashi. He sent word that he'd found him not long ago."</p><p>Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness."</p><p>"But really!" Mebuki was in full rant-mode. "He <em>knows</em> how hospitals work. He would have been out by tonight! What on earth possessed him to just… <em>take off</em>?"</p><p>Sakura gave her mother a brittle smile. Mebuki was fond of Sasuke—Sakura knew her parents kind of thought of Sasuke as their second child, after all this time—but she didn't really <em>get</em> him. "Sasuke-kun really doesn't like hospitals, Okaa-san." Sakura reminded her. "Too many bad memories."</p><p>"That's no excuse." Mebuki insisted, but some of the fire had left her eyes. She sighed. "Do me a favour and run over and invite him over for dinner, will you? I'll feel better when I see him with my own eyes."</p><p>"Okay." Sakura grinned, rushing to put her shoes on and taking off down the stairs. "I'll be back soon!"</p><hr/><p>Sasuke was reclining on the sofa in Kakashi's tiny apartment when there was a burst of hurried knocks on the front door. Kakashi appeared from his bedroom to answer.</p><p>"Ah, hello Sakura."</p><p>Sasuke sat up.</p><p>"Sensei, do you know where Sasuke-kun is?" He heard Sakura's voice from behind Kakashi, high and panicked. "Okaa-san told me you found him after he disappeared from the hospital, but I was just at his apartment and he wasn't there—"</p><p>"Relax." Kakashi's voice was mildly amused. "Come on in. He's right here. We agreed that he's going to be staying here until after the exams."</p><p>Sakura rounded their teacher, bright green eyes narrowing at the boy. "There you are! Do you have any idea how worried Okaa-san is?" She demanded, face screwed up into a scowl. "You threw the hospital upside down when you left this morning!"</p><p>Kakashi chuckled. "You're the third person to give him this lecture, today." He put a hand on her shoulder. An ANBU captain had been by not long ago, reprimanding him for his disappearing act.</p><p>"And I won't be the last." She sniffed, eyeing Sasuke critically. "Have a shower. Okaa-san wants you over for dinner to yell at you." Sasuke scowled at her, defiance ready to spill from his tongue. She seemed to sense it, because she said, "If you don't come I'll tell her exactly where you are and then you'll have to deal with her here instead."</p><p>Sasuke looked to Kakashi. He looked far too amused. "I'm not supposed to go anywhere without a jōnin escort." He said bitterly. It was a measure of protection that he chafed at, and was the chief reason for his stay at Kakashi's.</p><p>"I'm sure Okaa-san won't mind if Sensei comes too." Sakura looked up at Kakashi. "Though he'd have to take off his mask to eat." She said with something akin to wonder, ire momentarily forgotten.</p><p>Kakashi ruffled her hair. "Oh, I don't mind standing guard outside. I'm sure your mother wouldn't appreciate an audience to her… loss of composure." His eyes crinkled. "Go ahead and wash up, Sasuke. We'll wait out here."</p><p>Outnumbered, Sasuke sighed in defeat and accepted the fact that that he apparently just wasn't meant to have a peaceful night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Poor Sasuke. He's being completely and utterly henpecked by the Haruno women. They do it out of love.</p><p>But seriously, Sasuke. Should have just waited to be discharged.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>We're finally to the chūnin exam finals. Watch the complete lack of action in this chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Things weren't looking good for Naruto for a while in his match against Neji, but he won in the end. Sakura had barely managed to breathe a sigh of relief before she began to worry that Sasuke was late.</p><p>It wasn't like him to be late to anything. Sakura hadn't seen much of him in the past two weeks, but she was confident that Sasuke would be there. He was eager, in his own way, to participate. He wanted to fight, to prove himself, to measure his strength against the best, as he'd said just before the preliminaries.</p><p>Sakura had noticed a change in him since the Forest of Death. He was colder than he was before; his temper was shorter, and his tongue sharper. Sakura had suggested he take a day off, three days ago, for his birthday, but he'd snapped at her with such vehemence—that he would, under no circumstances, take a break from his preparations—that her shock must have shown on her face. He'd looked surprised for a moment before his face slid carefully into a blank mask and he told her that he would see her later, shutting Kakashi's door in her face. She hadn't seen him since.</p><p>She cringed inwardly. Sure, Sasuke had never made a big deal out of his birthday, but he'd always stopped by and allowed her parents to fuss over him. Knowing his dislike for what he deemed to be impracticalities, she'd taken to buying him weapons for his birthday for as long as she'd had an allowance—special, high-quality kunai that she knew he still had and used on missions, shuriken sets when he started to run low. This year, since thirteen was a special year, she'd been saving up all her mission pay for an ornate tantō that was currently stashed at the bottom of her closet. She'd even paid a little extra to have it emblazoned with the <em>uchiwa </em>at the base of the blade<em>. </em>But after he'd snapped at her she hadn't had the courage to go back and give it to him.</p><p>Instead, she threw herself into her research on ninjutsu and genjutsu. Unfortunately, without any idea what her chakra nature was, she couldn't really begin to teach herself anything more than the theory. Jōnin instructors were typically the ones who tested for their genin's chakra natures, but Kakashi had been so busy with Sasuke that Sakura hadn't been able to approach him. Besides, going to his apartment meant seeing Sasuke.</p><p>She hadn't seen much of him, but she didn't like this new version of her friend. Sasuke had always been focused, but for the three times she'd seen him over the past two weeks, he'd seemed almost <em>obsessed</em>.</p><p>"<em>I'm going to hunt down the man who killed my clan. I will kill him and avenge them. I don't care what I have to do to do it."</em></p><p>Sasuke's words from the preliminaries echoed in her mind. She'd known he had a goal to kill somebody, but she'd never really allowed herself to think about it since his admission on the day they'd became genin. But knowing, now, the reason behind it… made it seem more dangerous. More real. She was afraid for him. What could he do against someone who could take out an entire <em>clan</em>? Who had likely only gotten <em>stronger</em> since then?</p><p>He'd taken the deaths of his family hard, she remembered. Sasuke had always been a quiet little boy in their early years at the academy, but he'd become aggressive following his return after the murders. He used to get into fights with Naruto and Kiba almost daily for a while before Sakura started running interference and distracting him. It was so at odds with the quiet, but smiling boy he used to be when his mother picked him up from school just weeks before.</p><p>Sakura had tried to give him some of the warmth he was missing from his family, even if she didn't recognise what she was doing at the time. Her family had enquired about taking him into their home when they were eight, after Sakura and Sasuke's friendship had been established, but the Hokage's office had rejected their request; Sasuke was officially the head of the Uchiha Clan, now, and placing him in the care of anyone else would be seen as undermining that authority. It didn't matter that the clan was made up of only one person, and a child at that; he had all the rights and expectations that Hyūga Hiashi had, as head of the Hyūga clan.</p><p>It wasn't fair, Sakura thought as she chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad now if he hadn't been forced to grow up alone. If he'd been given the chance to be a real kid, even after the deaths of his clan. Sakura's parents had <em>never</em> wanted to take his parents' place; they'd just wanted to see him looked after and safe. But it wasn't meant to be, and thirteen year old Sasuke was now becoming a miniature ball of hatred and resentment in a child's body, forced to grow up and experience the darkest parts of life well before he was ready.</p><p>"What's wrong, Sakura?"</p><p>Sakura snapped out of her daze as Neji was stretchered out of the arena by the medics. She turned to her left to see Ino looking at her with a strange look on her face. "Huh?"</p><p>"What's wrong? You look like you want to cry."</p><p>Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat. "I'm fine. Sasuke-kun's match is next. It's just that he's fighting that creepy Gaara guy."</p><p>Ino frowned, but shrugged and turned her eyes back to the battlefield. "Is he even here?"</p><p>"Why are you even sitting with me, anyway?" Sakura changed the subject, not wanting to admit she didn't know. "I thought you hated me."</p><p>Ino shrugged. "It was either you or Hinata, and she's hanging out with Kiba today." Ino's nose scrunched up. "He's almost as bad as Naruto."</p><p>"Naruto's not that bad, you know." Sakura defended loyally. "He's a bit loud, but he's a really good guy."</p><p>Ino's eyebrows rose. "Oh?" She said with a teasing lilt. "Are you turning away from Sasuke-kun, then?"</p><p>Sakura's cheeks coloured. "I don't know what you're talking about. They're <em>both</em> my friends."</p><p>"Sure, sure." Ino waved her hand dismissively. "We both know how you <em>really</em> feel, Forehead."</p><p>Sakura opened her mouth to spit a retort, but was cut off by the proctor.</p><p>"Ladies and gentlemen!" He shouted towards the stands. "One of the contestants for the next match has not arrived yet! Therefore, we will push the match back and begin the next one!"</p>
<hr/><p>Kankurō's immediate forfeit soured the crowd even more. The upside was that Shikamaru and Temari's match was actually interesting, at least to Sakura. She'd always known Shikamaru was smart. He was probably smarter than <em>her</em>, and Sakura was known for her intelligence among their classmates. Seeing him use that on the battlefield was a treat, even if he <em>did</em> end up giving up in the end.</p><p>Sakura sighed as Ino and Chōji, who had appeared at the beginning of the match, carried on beside her. Sasuke still wasn't there. If he didn't arrive in the next few seconds, he would be disqualified, and Naruto would go on to fight Gaara. Remembering what he did to Lee in the preliminaries, Sakura shivered. She didn't want <em>either</em> of them fighting him.</p><p>The crowd cheered as Sasuke and Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves. Sakura's eyes zeroed in on Sasuke's face, even from so far away. He was talking with Naruto, who had leapt down to chastise Shikamaru. His hair hung forward, obscuring his eyes from the crowd.</p><p>"He needs a haircut." Sakura muttered.</p><p>"<em>What</em>?!" Ino screeched from her side.</p><p>Sakura cleared her throat. "He needs," she repeated, "a <em>haircut</em>."</p><p>Chōji laughed uproariously as Ino spluttered; Sakura giggled a little, the tightness in her chest easing, even if only for a moment. She spotted a familiar green jumpsuit from behind him and brightened. "Lee-san!"</p><p>Lee smiled at her, but his greeting was cut off by Ino. "Y'know, Forehead, your team is pretty special. I mean, Naruto beat the genius of the Hyūga clan, and Sasuke-kun is already a prodigy!"</p><p>Sakura watched Lee's face crumple. She felt a pang in her chest. "Yeah… but they both had to work hard to make it here." She said, loud enough for Lee to hear her. He caught her eye and smiled again, then turned away with Gai to find a seat. He was still wobbling on crutches, his bad arm in a sling. She felt bad for him.</p><p>Kakashi appeared in a gust of wind. "Yo, Sakura! Gai!" His eye lazily drifted over to Lee. "Lee-kun. How are you doing?"</p><p>"Sensei," Sakura stood up and tugged on his sleeve. "Have you got a sec?" Kakashi blinked at her and shrugged. She turned to Lee. "Lee-san, you can have my seat if you want it. I don't think I'm going to be able to sit down for this match."</p><p>"Thank you, Sakura-san!" Lee attempted a bow, but nearly overbalanced and fell. Gai caught him and steered him to her seat.</p><p>Sakura fixed Kakashi with a look and tugged him up the stairs toward the back of the stands. Judging by the cheer that rose from the crowd, the match had already started. Looking around briefly, Sakura leaned in and whispered, "I wanted to ask before, but Sasuke-kun was always around. The mark…?"</p><p>Kakashi leaned against the wall, eye on the match beginning below. "You've got no need to worry." He said calmly. "It's under control."</p><p>Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, sagging against the wall next to him. She focused her attention on the fight happening below, her anxiety rising for an entirely different reason.</p>
<hr/><p>Sasuke had been preparing for this. Kakashi had described Lee's grisly injury to him in detail, wanting to prepare him for this moment. Naruto wasn't going to be a problem, and he wasn't concerned about anyone in the other block. This was the big hurdle he would face today.</p><p>His training would pay off. He was certain.</p>
<hr/><p>"Sensei!" Naruto appeared as Gaara encased himself in a dome of sand. Sakura could see the bright red of blood trickling down Sasuke's arm, even from way up in the stands. "You've got to stop the match!"</p><p>Kakashi eyed Naruto with mild interest. "Hello, Naruto."</p><p>"I'm serious!" He insisted as Shikamaru appeared behind him, hands in his pockets and somehow looking both bored and concerned. "That Gaara, he lives for killing people! He told us himself! Shikamaru, tell him!"</p><p>Sakura gasped, hands clutching the fabric on her chest as Naruto spoke. She could easily imagine it. If Lee had been even a <em>little</em> slower in the preliminaries, it wouldn't have just been his arm and leg crushed.</p><p>"There's no need to worry." Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair. "Sasuke has trained for this. We weren't late for no reason."</p><p>"But still, he's really dangerous." Sakura chewed on her lip. "Haven't you noticed? Even his own siblings are afraid of him." She'd noticed it in the prelims.</p><p>Kakashi's other hand ruffled <em>her</em> hair. "Have a little faith in him, you two." He said calmly.</p><p>Sakura looked up at him. "I do, but… what did you mean, you were late for a reason?"</p><p>"Just watch." Kakashi nodded down at the fight. Sakura looked down to see Sasuke leaping backward, sticking to the wall with his chakra. "You might be surprised."</p><p>As she watched with bated breath, lighting began to crackle up his bandaged arm. She heard Naruto suck in a breath as Gai approached.</p><p>"Just what kind of training did you do with him, Kakashi?" Gai demanded. "I saw him use Lee's <em>taijutsu</em> earlier. His speed has increased greatly in the last month, and now this jutsu…"</p><p>"Two weeks, actually." Kakashi corrected, voice mildly disinterested. "He copied Lee's <em>taijutsu</em> just before the first exam. I had him practice it to increase his speed." His eye drifted to his green-clad rival. "As for the jutsu… well, he's the same chakra nature as me. It seemed fitting."</p><p>"What jutsu is that?" Naruto demanded.</p><p>"It's called the <em>chidori</em>—or the <em>raikiri</em>, the Lightning Cutter." Gai explained, his usual exuberance gone. Sakura shivered; she'd only ever seen Gai being flamboyant and eccentric. To see him like that was chilling, almost. "Kakashi's own unique jutsu, used specifically for assassination. The chakra turns the arm into a blade that can cut through almost anything. All it takes is one hit, and your opponent is dead."</p><p>"Isn't that… the jutsu you used on the bridge to kill Haku?" Sakura asked, eyes wide. "You <em>taught</em> him that?!" Having such a deadly jutsu in his arsenal… Sakura gulped.</p><p>"It is." Kakashi nodded. "He needs it for this fight. Now hush. Things are getting interesting."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The curse mark is making itself known.</p><p>We're moving into Konoha Crush, which is something I've been excited for for a while.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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